THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

DAVIS 


A  POPULAR 

HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES 
TO  THE  ACCESSION  OF  QUEEN  VICTORIA 


BY 


FRANCOIS  PIERRE  GUILLAUME  GUIZOT,  LLD., 

MEMBER   OF  THE   FRENCH   ACADEMY,  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY   (LONDON),  THE  SOCIETY 

OF  ANTIQUARIES   (LONDON)  ;    AMBASSADOR  AT  THE    COURT   OF 

ST.    JAMES  5      PRIME    MINISTER     OF     FRANCE 

UNDER   LOUIS   PHILIPPE,  ETC 


ESTES    AND    LAURIAT'S 

LIBRARY  OF  STANDARD   HISTORY, 


GUIZOTS  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE  ACCESSION 
OF  VICTORIA. 

Four  Vols.,  Royal  Octavo. 

GUIZOTS  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE  FIRST 
REVOLUTION. 

Six  Vols.,  Royal  Octavo. 

HENRI  MARTIN'S  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE, 

FROM  THE  FIRST  REVOLUTION  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

Three  Vols.,  Royal  Octavo. 


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IN    PREPARATION: 

A    POPULAR    HISTORY    OF    GERMANY, 
FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


GUIZOT,  AGED  85  YEAKS. 


E>OE>dIaAR 


FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES 

TO 

THE  REIGD  OF  QOEED  VICTORIA 


COPYRIGHTED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY 
ESTDS   ^    MURIflT 

301    WASHINGTON    ST. 


A  POPULAR 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND, 


FROM  THE 


BY  M.  GUIZOT, 


AUTHOR  OF  "A    POPULAR    HISTORY   OF   FRANCE,"  "THE    HISTORY  OF  CIVILIZATION,' 
"  HISTORY  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND,"  ETC. 


TRANS  LA  TED  BY 


M.    M.    RIPLEY 


fciifc 


mtb  £tul  $Iatw, 


FROM  DRAWINGS   BY  THE  MOST  CELEBRATED  ARTISTS,  AMONG  WHOM  ARE 

A.  DE  NEUVILLE,  SIR  JOHN   GILBERT,   P.  LEYENDECKER, 

G.  STAAL,  EMILE  BAYARD,  T.WEBER. 


VOL.  I. 


BOSTON: 

DANA  ESTES  AND   CHARLES  E.  LAURIAT, 
301   WASHINGTON  STREET. 


LIBRARY 

TV   nc   PAl  ICHPMlfi 


Copyright  by 

ESTES    AND    LAURIAT, 
1876. 


ELECTROTYPED 

AT    THE    BOSTON    STEREOTYPE    FOUNDRY, 
19    SPRING    LANE. 


Printed  at  the  University  Press,  Cambridge. 


PREFACE 

TO    THE    AMERICAN    EDITION. 


"HISTORY,"  says  Schlegel,  "if  not  in  itself  the  most  bril 
liant,  is  yet  the  most  indispensable  link  in  the  beautiful 
chain  which  encompasses  man's  higher  intellectual  culture." 

Of  the  pre-eminent  importance  of  English  history  there 
can  be  no  doubt  when  we  consider  that  it  is  the  story  of 
the  growth  of  free  institutions;  that  it  exhibits,  as  no  other 
can,  the  gradual  development  and  practical  working  out  of 
those  great  principles  of  representative  government  which  un 
derlie  all  genuine  and  durable  national  prosperity.  "  Here," 
—  to  quote  the  words  of  M.  Guizot  himself,  when,  in  1821, 
he  selected  the  history  of  the  political  institutions  of  Eng 
land  as  the  subject  of  that  course  of  lectures  before  the 
Sorbonne  which  laid  the  foundation  of  his  great  fame, — . 
"history  presents  itself  with  the  utmost  simplicity  and  rich 
ness.  Nowhere  have  the  primitive  manners  of  modern  peo 
ples  been  preserved  for  a  longer  period,  or  exercised  an 
influence  so  decisive  upon  the  institutions  of  a  country. 
Nowhere  do  great  philosophical  considerations  spring  in%  great 
er  abundance  from  the  contemplation  of  events  and  men. 
Here,  in  fine,  representative  government  has  developed  itself, 
has  received  into  its  bosom  and  fertilized  by  its  alliance, 

v 


vi  PREFACE. 

the  religious  movement  imparted  to  Europe  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  has  thus  become  the  starting-point  of  the  polit 
ical  reformation  which  is  now  beginning  on  the  Continent." 

By  this  title,  the  history  of  England  would  be  most  pre 
cious  to  every  American,  though  it  were  the  story  of  an 
alien  race,  with  whom  we  shared  nothing  but  these  com 
mon  principles  and  the  destiny  which  follows  from  their 
acceptance.  But  it  is  no  foreign  story  that  we  read  on 
those  pages,  brilliant  with  gallant  adventure,  or  strong  with 
sturdy  adherence  to  the  right ;  the  barons  who  won  Magna 
Charta  are  of  our  own  race ;  Shakspeare  and  Milton  are 
our  poets ;  we  have  a  share  in  all  English  victories  won  on 
whatever  fields.  No  view  of  American  history  could  be 
more  unphilosophic  than  that  which  should  regard  it  as  com 
mencing  at  Jamestown  or  Plymouth.  We  can  by  no  possi 
bility  understand  our  life  on  this  continent,  or  forecast  our 
future,  until  we  thoroughly  know  the  story  of  our  fore 
fathers  in  the  old  ancestral  home. 

But  this  is  a  point  which  needs  no  urging.  Kather  may 
we  be  required  to  say  why  a  new  English  History  should 
be  added  to  the  number  already  in  existence.  We  have 
Hume,  it  may  be  said,  and  Lord  Macaulay ;  we  have  Lin- 
gard,  Mahon,  Froude,  Turner,  Palgrave,  and  Freeman,  names 
of  high  and  well-established  repute.  But  a  moment's  reflec 
tion  will  recall  the  fact  that  every  one  of  these  historians 
deals  with  a  period  only,  not  with  the  whole  of  the  long 
and  splendid  story.  We  have  Turner's  "  Anglo-Saxons,"  and 
his  "  England  from  1066  to  the  Accession  of  Edward  III. ;  " 
we  have  Palgrave's  and  Freeman's  histories  of  the  Norman 
period ;  we  have  Froude's  "  England,  from  the  Fall  of  Wolsey 


PREFACE.  vii 

to  the  Death  of  Elizabeth,"  and  Lord  Mahon's,  from  1713 
to  1783:  the  magnificent  work  of  Macaulay  covers  the  space 
only  from  the  accession  of  James  II.  to  the  year  1702;  and 
Hume  and  Lingard,  who  begin  with  the  Roman  Invasion, 
bring  the  story  down  no  further  than  to  the  Revolution  of 
1688.  A  fall  and  complete  History  of  England,  the  work  of 
one  great  writer,  has  been  lacking  upon  our  library  shelves 
until  now. 

It  may,  too,  for  the  moment  seem  strange  that  this  much- 
needed  English  History  should  be  the  work  of  a  French 
author.  But  M.  Guizot's  claims  upon  our  confidence,  as  a 
man  sure  to  deal  in  a  wise  and  fair-minded  way  with  what 
ever  subject  he  might  select,  have  been  well  proven,  and  are 
attested  by  the  verdict  of  his  peers.  Says  Sir  Archibald 
Alison,  in  a  paragraph  whose  very  moderation  adds  to  its 
weight :  "  As  a  historian  and  a  philosopher,  we  place  M.  Gui- 
zot  in  the  very  highest  rank  among  the  writers  of  modern 
Europe.  It  must  be  understood,  however,  in  what  his  great 
ness  consists ;  he  is  neither  imaginative  nor  pictorial,  he  sel 
dom  aims  at  the  pathetic,  and  has  little  eloquence.  Nature 
has  not  given  him  either  dramatic  or  descriptive  powers.  He 
is  a  man  of  the  highest  genius,  but  it  consists  not  in  nar 
rating  particular  events,  or  describing  individual  achievements. 
It  is  in  the  discovery  of  general  causes,  in  tracing  the  oper 
ation  of  changes  in  society  which  escape  ordinary  observation, 
in  seeing  whence  man  has  come  and  whither  he  is  going, 
that  his  greatness  consists;  and  in  that  loftiest  of  the  regions 
of  history  he  is  unrivalled.  The  style  of  this  great  author 
is  in  every  respect  suited  to  his  subject.  .  .  .  He  is 
uniformly  lucid,  sagacious,  and  discriminating,  deduces  his 


viii  PREFACE. 

conclusions  with  admirable  clearness  from  his  premises,  and 
occasionally  warms,  from  the  innate  grandeur  of  his  subject, 
into  a  glow  of  fervent  eloquence." 

A  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  for  October,  1858,  after 
an  appreciative  mention  of  "the  parliamentary  statesmen"  of 
Louis  Philippe's  reign,  men  "  equally  distinguished  by  liter 
ary  ability  and  political  eloquence,"  pays  a  brilliant  tribute 
to  the  late  minister.  "  Among  this  band  of  great  and  hon 
orable  men,  we  think  that  M.  Guizot  will  retain  in  history, 
as  he  has  occupied  in  life,  the  first  and  highest  place.  Other 
writers,  gifted  with  livelier  powers  of  imagination  and  appeal 
ing  more  directly  to  the  sentiment  of  their  contemporaries, 
may,  like  M.  de  Chateaubriand,  have  exercised  for  a  time  a 
more  powerful  influence  on  the  literature  of  France.  Other 
orators  may  have  kindled  fiercer  passions  in  the  audiences  they 
addressed,  and  may  leave  on  some  memories  the  impression 
of  more  intense  dramatic  power.  Other  statesmen  have  en 
joyed  more  of  popular  sympathy  in  their  day,  for  they  fought 
under  a  banner  to  which  M.  Guizot  was  steadily  opposed ; 
while  they  spoke  with  the  energy  of  assailants,  his  public 
life  has  been  for  the  most  part  spent  in  the  service  of  the 
crown,  and  in  the  discharge  of  the  positive  duties  of  govern 
ment.  But  in  the  depth  and  variety  of  his  literary  labors, 
which  have  enlarged  the  philosophy  of  history,  and  extended 
our  knowledge  of  the  laws  that  manifest  themselves  in  all 
human  affairs ;  in  the  force  and  precision  of  his  oratory, 
which  at  one  swoop  could  bend  an  assembly  or  crush  a  foe ; 
and  in  the  systematic  consistency  of  his  whole  political  life, 
which  realized  in  action  the  opinions  of  his  closet,  and  gave 
the  authority  of  a  minister  to  the  principles  of  a  philosopher, 


PREFACE.  ix 

M.  Guizot  has  had  no  equal,  either  in  his  own  country,  or, 
so  far  as  we  know,  in  any  other.  The  wisdom  of  some 
of  his  writings  and  the  felicity  of  some  of  his  orations  may 
not  improperly  be  compared  to  the  productions  of  Burke; 
the  ascendency  he  enjoyed  in  the  executive  government  and 
the  Parliament  of  France,  was  probably  greater  than  any 
minister  has  possessed  in  a  constitutional  state  since  the 
death  of  Mr.  Pitt.  But  in  M.  Guizot,  the  speculative  genius 
of  the  one  was  united  to  the  practical  authority  of  the  other; 
and  though  each  of  these  great  Englishmen  may  have  pos 
sessed  his  own  peculiar  qualifications  in  a  still  higher  degree, 
M.  Guizot  stands  before  them  both  in  the  rare  union  of  the 
contemplative  and  active  faculties.  To  have  written  the  His 
tory  of  Civilization  in  France,  and  to  have  occupied  the 
most  important  position  in  the  government  of  France  for  a 
longer  period  than  any  minister  since  the  Duke  de  Choiseul, 
are  joint  achievements  in  literature  and  in  politics  which  no 
other  man  has  performed. 

"  To  the  energy  and  even  passion  of  a  southern  nature, 
M.  Guizot  has  throughout  life  applied  the  self-knowledga  and 
the  self-control  of  a  cool  and  powerful  intellect.  Born  for 
public  life,  and  ambitious  of  the  great  prizes  of  political  power, 
no  man  ever  took  less  account  of  the  external  advantages 
of  success.  He  walked  looking  to  higher  things;  intent  on 
the  extension  of  freedom,  the  consolidation  of  authority,  and 
the  work  of  government,  his  life  has  been  spent  alternately 
in  defending  freedom  against  absolutism,  and  order  against 
revolution. 

"It  has  been  acutely  remarked  that  some  men  are  eminent 


x  PREFACE. 

in  public  life  by  the  possession,  in  a  high  degree,  of  the 
characteristic  qualities  of  their  nation  —  as,  for  example,  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  was  superlatively  an  Englishman;  but 
that  other  men  rise  to  equal  eminence  by  the  possession  of 
qualities  very  remote  from  those  of  the  people  they  have  to 
govern.  In  French  history,  more  especially,  examples  are 
not  rare  of  great  statesmen,  great  writers,  and  great  soldiers, 
wanting  in  the  popular  elements  of  the  French  character, 
but  framed  in  a  stronger  mould,  who  have  exercised  a  pre 
ponderating  authority  over  their  countrymen.  To  this  class 
of  thinkers  and  rulers  M.  Guizot  belongs :  a  student  and  a 
liberal  under  the  military  rule  of  the  First  Empire  ;  a  Protes 
tant  and  a  man  of  the  people  in  the  presence  of  the  clerical 
and  aristocratic  reaction  of  the  Restoration ;  a  professor  and  a 
journalist  when  the  crown  began  to  wage  war  on  the  rights 
of  intelligence  ;  a  minister,  when  it  became  necessary  to  allay 
the  tempest  of  the  Revolution  of  1830,  and  to  protect  liberty 
from  the  excesses  threatened  in  her  name. 

"  His  views  of  government  were  based  on  the  idea  of  a 
constitutional  monarchy,  whilst  France  was  still  struggling 
with  the  unsettled  elements  of  an  unparalleled  revolution. 
The  idea  of  such  a  monarchy,  whether  inspired  by  the  example 
of  the  British  constitution,  or  by  philosophical  deduction  of  a 
more  abstract  nature,  did  the  highest  honor  to  the  minds 
that  conceived  it,  and  to  the  men  who  practised  it.  The 
same  profound  spirit  of  analysis  may  be  traced  in  all  M. 
Guizot's  historical  writings.  Nowhere  can  he  be  accused  of 
superficial  observation,  or  of  an  undue  regard  for  the  acci 
dents  of  history." 


PREFACE.  xi 

The  assertion  of  this  reviewer,  that  M.  Guizot's  was  a  char 
acter  and  a  mind  differing  from  the  usual  French  type,  has 
been  repeated  in  many  forms,  and  by  foes  as  well  as  friends. 
To  what  national  type  he  bore  a  resemblance  could  not  for 
a  moment  be  doubted.  His  Protestant  faith,  his  intense  love 
for  constitutional  liberty,  his  familiarity  with  English  history, 
English  politics,  and  English  literature,  all  contributed  to 
strengthen  whatever  natural  bias  may  have  existed,  and  drew 
upon  him  unmerited  reproach  from  his  political  opponents,  as 
too  warm  a  friend  to  the  traditional  enemy  of  his  country. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  France  had  never  a  more  loyal 
son  than  M.  Guizot,  but  we  gladly  dwell  upon  his  sympathy 
with  England,  and  his  instinctive  comprehension  of  English 
motives  and  methods,  because  it  explains  how  a  Frenchman 
has  been  able  to  write  upon  England  with,  in  some  respects, 
greater  ability  than  any  Englishman  has  yet  done.  His  His 
tory  of  the  English  Ke volution,  and  other  English  papers, 
published  between  the  years  1826  and  1856,  have  received 
the  warmest  commendation  from  the  most  distinguished  men. 
Sir  James  Mackintosh  says  of  the  first  of  these  works :  "  It 
is  actually  the  best  which  has  been  written  on  the  subject." 
In  1844,  John  Stuart  Mill  writes  :  "  It  is  M.  Guizot  to  whom 
we  owe  the  best  history,  both  in  thought  and  in  composition, 
of  the  times  of  Charles  I.  Of  all  Continental  historians  of 
whom  we  are  aware,  he  is  the  one  best  adapted  to  this 
country,  and  a  familiarity  with  whose  writings  would  do  most 
to  train  and  ripen  among  us  the  growing  spirit  of  historical 
speculation." 

There  is  perhaps  but  one  Frenchman  whose  opinion  of  M. 
Guizot's  works  on  English  history  has  a  critical  value  enti- 


xii  PREFACE. 

tling  it  to  be  mentioned  on  the  same  page  with  that  of  Mack 
intosh  and  Mill.  We  refer  to  M.  Taine;  and  it  is  fitting  to 
add  his  testimony  to  the  skill  and  wisdom  of  his  great  coun 
tryman. 

"  Let  us  consider  him,"  says  M.  Taine,  "  in  his  true  voca 
tion,  that  of  the  political  historian.  He  gives  you  precisely 
what  you  require,  striking  details,  fragments  of  conversation, 
the  very  words  used  on  the  occasion.  He  has  not,  like 
Hume  and  Robertson,  stopped  at  general  explanations  and 
the  indirect  narrative.  He  has  represented  dramatic  scenes, 
austere  possibly,  but  as  interesting  as  a  session  of  Parliament 
or  of  the  council.  Nothing  is  more  amusing  in  a  serious 
way  than  the.  solemn  comedy  wherein  Cromwell  asks  for  and 
refuses  the  crown.  ...  To  art,  M.  Guizot  adds  science. 
To  interest,  he  adds  truth.  Here  he  is  a  specialist,  and 
one  perceives  it.  To  write  the  history  of  Chemistry,  a  man 
should  have  handled  chemical  substances.  To  write  a  polit 
ical  history,  a  man  should  have  had  the  management  of 
public  affairs.  These  are  distinct  matters  which  require  a 
special  training.  The  man  of  letters,  the  psychologist,  the 
artist,  finds  himself  at  a  loss  when  he  must  pass  judgment 
on  a  treaty,  an  embassy,  a  parliamentary  stratagem,  the  oppor 
tuneness  of  a  convocation,  the  effects  of  a  law.  He  can  only 
decide  blindly,  by  rash  conjecture,  or  on  the  opinion  of 
others ;  if  his  judgment  be  original,  it  has  no  weight ;  if  it 
have  weight,  it  cannot  be  original.  But  in  this  case  we  have 
confidence,  and  we  feel  at  once  that  we  ought  to  have  it. 
There  is  nothing  more  clearly  explained  and  more  correctly 
judged  than  the  relations  of  Cromwell  and  Mazarin.  M.  Guizot 
has  taken  pleasure  in  gathering  up  all  the  details  of  this 


PREFACE.  xiii 

correspondence.  Like  a  great  chess-player,  he  explains  and 
admires  the  game  of  two  ,  famous  players.  .  .  .  This  taste 
and  talent  for  political  history  gives  him  a  dominant  tone 
and  a  unique  style.  Master  of  himself,  he  advances  with 
firm,  measured,  even  step,  adapting  his  style  to  his  subject, 
a  statesman  in  the  construction  of  sentences,  as  in  the  selec 
tion  of  events. 

"  M.  Guizot  is  a  philosopher.  The  philosophy  of  history  was 
his  first  preference  and  his  first  work.  He  now  brings  to 
narrative  history  the  same  talent  which  he  brought  to  specu 
lative  history.  This  talent  does  not  consist,  after  the  German 
manner,  in  the  rash  improvising  of  sublime  theories,  but  in 
the  slow  and  complete  collection  of  innumerable  details,  in 
wise  and  incessant  classification,  in  the  methodical  elimination 
of  great  and  well-proved  ideas,  in  the  assiduous  verifying  of 
all  generalizations.  This  art  of  grouping  facts,  and  drawing 
general  conclusions  from  them,  has  built  up  this  History  of 
the  English  Revolution.  It  has  given  his  style  a  wonderful 
vigor,  and,  when  the  opportunity  offers,  as  in  the  recital  of 
Charles  I.'s  despotic  acts,  in  the  trial  of  Stafford,  of  the 
king,  of  Lord  Hamilton,  of  Lord  Cappel,  it  has  produced 
passages  of  admirable  eloquence,  the  more  impressive  because 
so  restrained,  and  because  the  historian  stands  back  to  let  the 
events  speak.  We  have  to-day  neither  style  nor  mind  of  this 
temper.  To  find  its  like,  we  must  go  back  to  Thucydides  or 
to  Macchiavelli. 

"  Neither  a  man  given  to  minute  research,  nor  yet  an  artist, 
do  they  say?  It  may  be  so.  But  he  is  a  statesman  and  a 
philosopher,  and  in  a  political  and  a  philosophic  history  we 
need  no  more  than  that." 


xiv  PREFACE. 

We  conclude  with  a  few  words  from  a  review  of  M.  Guizot's 
France,  in  the  British  Quarterly  for  January,  1877,  from  the 
pen  of  Edward  A.  Freeman. 

"  His  historic  merits  are  great ;  his  services  to  historical 
literature  are  deep  and  lasting.  .  .  .  Calm,  observant,  fair, 
clear,  commonly  accurate,  going  for  history  to  its  true  sources, 
he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  modern  school  of  historical 
research.  .  .  .  The  great  mass  of  the  story  is  as  vigorous 
as  it  is  clear,  moderate,  and  high-toned.  M.  Guizot  might 
not  have  taken  it  as  praise,  but  we  mean  it  as  no  slight 
praise,  when  we  say  that  we  have  scarcely  ever  seen  a  book 
written  by  a  Frenchman  on  a  French  subject,  which  was  so 
little  French  in  its  spirit.  .  .  .  The  book  is  a  noble  one  ;  it 
would  be  well  if  the  history  of  every  nation  could  be  told 
in  the  same  calm  and  judicial  spirit,  with  the  same  loftiness 
of  moral  tone,  with  which  the  history  of  France  has  been 
told  in  these  volumes  by  M.  Guizot." 

The  wish  here  expressed  by  Mr.  Freeman  has  been  fulfilled, 
in  so  far  as  England  is  concerned ;  and  our  sincerest  gratitude 
is  due  to  Madame  Guizot  de  Witt,  by  whose  pious  care  this 
last  work  of  her  illustrious  father  has  been  "  gathered  up," 
to  use  her  own  expressive  words,  and  is  now  given  to  a  pub 
lic  who  so  well  know  how  to  value  it. 

BOSTON,  May,  1877. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

VOLUME    I. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.   ANCIENT  POPULATIONS  OF    BRITAIN.  —  ROMAN 

DOMINION.    55  B.  c.  to  411  A.  D 13 

II.  THE  RULE  OF  THE   SAXONS  TO  THE  INVASION 

OF  THE  DANES.    449-832 29 

III.  THE  DANES.  —  ALFRED  THE  GREAT.    836-901.    .      41 

IV.  SAXON  AND  DANISH  KINGS.  —  CONQUEST  OF  ENG 

LAND  BY  THE  NORMANS.     901-1066 63 

V.   ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  NORMANS  IN  ENGLAND. 

1066-1087 106 

VI.  THE  NORMAN  KINGS.  —  WILLIAM  RUFUS.  —  HEN 
RY  I.  — STEPHEN.    1087-1154 120 

VII.  HENRY  II.    1154-1189 149 

VIII.  RICHARD  CCEUR-DE-LION.  —  JOHN  LACKLAND.  — 

MAGNA  CHARTA.    1189-1216 185 

IX.   KING  AND  BARONS.  —  HENRY  III.    1216-1272.     .    221 
X.   MALLEUS  SCOTORUM. — EDWARD  I.    1272-1307. 

EDWARD  II.    1307-1327.  . 241 

XI.   THE  HUNDRED    YEARS'   WAR.  —  EDWARD    III. 

1327-1377 288 

XII.  BOLINGBROKE.  —  RICHARD  II.    1377-1398.    HEN 
RY  IV.    1398-1413 340 

XIII.   HENRY  V.    1413-1422 .380 

xv 


LIST  OF  PLATES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

VOLUME    I. 


FRONTISPIECE. — Portrait  of  Guizot  at  the  Age 

of  Eighty-five. 

Landing  of  the  Romans   in  Britain 14  14 

Destruction  of  the  Druids  in  Mona 14  21 

Caractacus  and  his  Wife  before  Claudius.       ...  18  19 

The  last  of  the  Druids 20  20 

"  Since  your  Intentions  are  good  " 36  36 

Rowena  and  Vortigern 38  30 

The  Saxon  Priest  striking  the  Images.      ....  38  39 

Alfred  the  Great  watching  the  Peasant's  Loaves.  .  48  48 

Alfred  promised  the  Manuscript 60  43 

Alfred's  Device  for  reckoning  Time 60  61 

The  Murder  of  Edward  in  978 66  67 

Edith  pointing  out  the  Body  of  Harold 66  105 

Ruins  of  St.  Benedict's  Abbey,  founded  by  Canute 

A.  D.  1020 76  76 

Canute  and  his  Courtiers 78  77 

"  The  Englishman  swore  " 90  90 

William  the  Conqueror  reviewing  his  Army.     .     .  102  102 

Archbishop  Aldred's  Curse 110  110 

xvii 


xviii  LIST   OF   PLATES   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Azelin  forbidding  the  Burial  of  William  the  Con-  Fpag"g  Epleget 

queror 110  119 

41  Robert  threw  himself  on  his  Knees "     .     .     .     .  114  114 

The  Church  of  St.  Stephen  at  Caen 118  119 

The  Death  of  the  Red  King 126  125 

"  The  English  and   Normans  arose  " 140  141 

Bishop  Odo  marching  out  of  Rochester 146  121 

Escape  of  the  Empress  Maud 146  146 

The  Cathedral  at  Nantes 150  151 

The  Saracen  Princess  seeking  Gilbert 152  153 

The  Crusaders'  March 152  187 

The  Castle  of  Arques 162  163 

Murder  of  Thomas  a  Becket 170  170 

Dunbrody  Abbey,  Wexford  County,  Ireland.     .     .  172  173 

Burial-Place  of  Henry   II.,  at  Fontevrault.  ...  182  183 

Richard  removing  the  Banner 190  191 

Richard  Cceur-de-Lion  having  the  Saracens  beheaded.  192  192 

Richard's  Farewell  to  the  Holy  Land 194  194 

Prince  Arthur  and  Hubert 205  235 

Murder  of  Prince  Arthur 206  205 

King  John's  Anger 224  216 

Hubert  de  Burgh  awaiting  his  Enemies.       .     .     .  224  225 

King  Henry's  Ratification  of  the  Barons'  Charters.  232  232 

Ruins  of  Kenilworth  Castle 236  236 

Burial  of  King  Henry  III 242  239 

Attempt  on   Prince  Edward's  Life 242  242 

"  That  is  the  Title  by  which  I  hold  my  Lands  "  244  244 

Holyrood  Abbey 264  264 

Bruce  warned  by  Gilbert  de  Clare 266  266 

Robert  Bruce  regretting  his  Battle-Axe.       ...  278  277 

Edward  II.  and  his  Gaolers.  290  286 


LIST    OF   PLATES   AND    ILLUSTRATIONS.  xix 

Facing  Refer  to 

page  page 

Black  Douglas  before  the  King's  Tent 290  290 

Town  Hall,  Ghent 296  296 

The  Battle  of  Sluys.      . 298  297 

Van  Artevelde  at  his  Door 302  302 

The  Great  Tower,  Bruges 304  302 

Queen  Philippa  at  the  Feet  of  the   King.       .     .  318  317 

King  John  taken  Prisoner  by  the   Black  Prince.  324  325 

The  Black  Prince  serving  the  captive  King  John.  326  325 

Death  of  Edward  III 340  338 

Richard  II.  returning  from  his  Coronation.  .     .     .  340  340 

Death  of  Wat  Tyler 348  348 

The  Tower  of  London 362  362 

Bolingbroke  and  Exton 364  364 

The  Great  Noblemen  paying  Homage  to  Henry  IV.  366  361 

Henry  IV.  and  Prince  Henry 377  377 

Prince  Henry  offers  his  Life  to  his  Father.      .     .  378  377 

The  Body  of  Richard  II.  interred  at  Westminster.  378  380 

The  French  Chivalry  the  Night  before  Agincourt.  388  388 

Henry  V.  reviewing  his  Troops 390  389 

Entry  of  the  Burgundians  into  Paris 396  395 

Courtship  of  Henry  V 398  398 

Mausoleum  of  John  the  Fearless  at  Dijon.  .     .     .  402  402 


A  POPULAR 

HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

PROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ANCIENT  POPULATIONS  OF  BRITAIN. —ROMAN  DOMINION. 
55  B.  C.  TO  411  A.  D. 

THE  earliest  periods  of  English  History  are  obscure,  and 
even  the  origin  of  its  inhabitants  is  still  a  subject  of 
discussion.  The  first  authentic  information  which  we  possess 
with  regard  to  them  is  derived  from  their  conqueror.  Julius 
Caesar  remarked  their  resemblance  to  the  Gauls,  and  modern 
researches  have  confirmed  his  testimony.  Everything  seems 
to  show  that  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  were  Celts,  or  Gaels, 
a  name  which  the  population  of  the  highlands  of  Scotland  retain 
to  this  day.  On  the  southern  coasts,  an  invasion  of  Cymry, 
or  Belgians,  appears  to  have  mingled  with  the  Celtic  popula 
tion,  and  to  have  brought  with  it  some  elements  of  civiliza 
tion.  Long  before  the  advent  of  Cassar,  the  Phoenicians  and 
Greeks  established  at  Marseilles  had  entered  into  relations  of 
commerce  with  the  Scilly  Isles,  which  they  called  the  Cassi- 
terides,  and  also  with  the  extremity  of  the  County  of  Cornwall, 
where  the  tin  mines  were  situated.  Pytheas,  who  lived  at 
Marseilles  at  the  commencement  of  the  fourth  century  B.  c., 
has  related  his  voyage  along  the  coast  of  Britain ;  but  it  is 
with  the  invasion  of  the  Romans  that  the  history  of  England 

13 


14  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  I. 

commences.  It  is  here  that  we  penetrate  for  the  first  time 
into  those  islands  which,  though  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
world,  sent  to  the  Gauls,  who  were  struggling  for  their  inde 
pendence,  succor,  which  furnished  Caesar  with  a  pretext  for 
the  attempt  to  conquer  them.  After  his  fourth  campaign  in 
Gaul,  about  the  year  55  B.  c.,  the  great  Roman  general  set 
sail  on  the  26th  of  August  for  Britain.  He  had  brought  with 
him  the  infantry  of  two  legions,  —  about  twelve  thousand  men, 
and  he  disembarked  near  the  point  where  the  town  of  Deal 
is  now  situated.  The  Britons  had  gathered  in  a  mass  upon 
the  shore.  A  great  number  were  on  horseback,  urging  their 
horses  into  the  waves,  and  insulting  and  defjdng  the  foreign 
ers.  They  were  almost  entirely  naked,  having  cast  off  the 
clothing  of  skins  with  which  they  were  ordinarily  covered,  in 
order  to  prepare  for  the  combat.  Their  war  chariots  were 
driven  rapidly  along  the  shore.  For  a  moment  the  Roman 
soldiers  hesitated,  troubled  by  the  unaccustomed  sight,  per 
haps  from  a  dread  of  offending  the  unknown  gods  of  people 
celebrated  among  their  Gaulish  brethren  for  the  devotion  with 
which  they  clung  to  the  Druidical  faith.  The  standard- 
bearer  of  the  tenth  legion  was  the  first  to  precipitate  him 
self  into  the  sea.  "  Follow  me,  my  fellow-soldiers,"  said  he, 
*4  unless  you  will  give  up  your  eagle  to  the  enemy.  I  at 
least  will  do  my  duty  to  the  republic  and  to  our  general." 
His  comrades  followed  his  example,  and  the  savage  inhabitants 
of  Britain  retired  in  disorder,  driven  back,  in  spite  of  their 
bravery,  after  a  short  engagement. 

On  the  morrow,  ambassadors  from  the  Britons  came  to  solicit 
peace.  At  the  first  rumor  of  the  projected  invasion  they  had 
sent  emissaries  into  Gaul  to  offer  their  submission  to  the 
Romans,  in  the  hope  of  turning  them  from  their  enterprise. 
Caesar  had  listened  to  them  with  kindness,  and  had  had  them 
conducted  by  his  own  envoy  Comius,  king  of  the  Belgian 


DESTRUCTION   OF  THE   DRUIDS   IN   MONA   BY   THE   ROMANS. 


LANDING   OF  THE  ROMANS   IN   BRITAIN 


CHAP.  I.]   ANCIENT  POPULATIONS.  —  ROMAN  DOMINION.  15 

Atrebates;  but  he  did  not  relinquish  his  intentions,  and  the 
Britons  in  their  irritation  had  put  the  delegate  of  Caesar  in 
irons.  This  was  the  first  matter  with  which  the  conqueror 
reproached  them,  at  the  same  time  demanding  hostages  for 
their  future  good  behavior.  Some  hostages  were  immediately 
given.  The  British  chiefs  asked  for  time  to  send  others,  and 
Csesar  entered  into  separate  negotiations  with  the  chiefs  who 
came  one  after  the  other  to  treat  with  the  conqueror. 

During  these  negotiations  the  sea  rendered  aid  to  the  Britons. 
Great  part  of  the  Roman  fleet  was  destroyed.  The  barba 
rians  perceived  their  advantage,  and  were  dilatory  in  sending 
the  hostages.  Meanwhile  Ceesar  had  promptly  set  his  soldiers 
to  the  task  of  repairing  the  vessels,  and  making  requisitions 
upon  the  Gauls  for  the  materials  which  were  required.  The 
vessels  were  beginning  to  be  in  a  state  to  take  the  sea,  when 
the  seventh  legion,  detached  on  a  foraging  expedition  in  the 
country,  was  surprised  in  the  only  field  of  grain  then  standing, 
by  a  number  of  Britons  who  were  lying  in  ambush,  concealed 
by  the  long  stalks  of  the  corn.  Horsemen  and  war  chariots 
issued  forth  from  the  surrounding  forests.  The  Romans  ran 
the  risk  of  being  crushed,  when  Caesar  came  to  their  assistance 
with  the  remainder  of  his  forces,  and  defeated  the  barbarians, 
who  sued  for  peace.  The  equinox  was  approaching.  The 
general  did  not  even  wait  for  the  hostages,  but  set  sail  for 
Gaul  in  the  middle  of  September,  sending  at  the  same  time 
news  to  Rome  which  induced  the  senate  to  decree  twenty 
days  of  public  thanksgivings  to  the  Immortal  Gods.  In  his 
Commentaries,  however,  Csesar  modestly  describes  this  first 
campaign  in  Britain  as  a  reconnoitring  expedition.  He  cher 
ished  the  design  of  returning  thither  later. 

Accordingly  in  the  following  year  (54  B.  c.),  Caesar  em 
barked  at  the  same  point  upon  the  coast  of  Gaul,  in  order 
to  land  at  the  same  spot,  though  with  very  different  forces. 


16  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  I. 

He  carried  with  him  the  infantry  of  five  legions  (about  thirty 
thousand  men)  and  two  thousand  cavalry.  Eight  hundred 
transport  vessels  covered  the  sea. 

From  the  summits  of  their  cliffs  the  Britons  had  perceived 
this  formidable  expedition,  and  had  sought  refuge  in  the  vast 
forests  which  cover  their  shores.  Caesar  marched  forward  to 
drive  them  back  into  their  retreats,  when  a  violent  tempest 
destroyed  forty  of  his  ships  and  drove  a  great  number  ashore. 
The  first  care  of  the  conqueror  was  to  protect  his  fleet 
against  the  fury  of  the  sea  and  the  hostility  of  the  islanders. 
He  caused  all  his  vessels  to  be  hauled  ashore,  in  order  to 
surround  them  afterwards  by  a  strong  intrenchment.  His 
largest  galleys  were  diminutive  in  comparison  with  our  vessels 
of  war.  His  transport  ships  were  hardly  more  than  barges. 
The  Roman  soldiers  labored  without  intermission  ten  days  and 
ten  nights  before  they  had  rendered  their  fleet  secure. 

They  then  resumed  their  march  against  the  Britons,  whose 
army  was  still  increasing.  All  the  chiefs  had  united  their 
forces  under  the  orders  of  a  commander-in-chief,  Cassivelanus, 
king  of  the  Cassii,  renowned  for  his  bravery  and  skill.  The 
Britons  avoided  a  general  engagement.  Assailing  the  Ro 
mans  incessantly  with  their  cavalry  and  their  war  chariots, 
which  they  conducted  with  the  ease  of  habit  even  along  the 
edge  of  precipices,  they  retired  again  into  the  forests  from 
the  moment  that  the  advantage  was  no  longer  on  their  side. 
But  this  barbarian  intrepidity  was  not  accompanied  by  expe 
rience.  Csesar's  cavalry,  supported  by  three  legions,  having 
scoured  the  country  in  quest  of  forage,  the  enemy  had  re 
mained  concealed  all  day,  when  suddenly  they  issued  in  a 
mass  from  the  neighboring  forests,  and  swept  down  upon  the 
Romans,  who  were  scattered  about  the  country.  Already  the 
Britons  imagined  themselves  victors ;  but  the  well-disciplined 
Roman  detachments  formed  again  as  if  by  enchantment,  the 


CHAP.  I.]  ANCIENT  POPULATIONS.— ROMAN  DOMINION.   17 

horsemen  rallied,  and  the  Britons,  enclosed  in  a  formidable 
circle,  sustained  losses  so  great  that  on  the  morrow  the  allies 
of  Cassivelanus  nearly  all  deserted  him  and  returned  into 
their  territories,  leaving  him  to  face  the  Romans  unsupported. 
The  king  in  his  turn  fell  back  upon  his  kingdom,  which 
was  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Thames. 

In  their  pursuit  the  Romans  had  traversed  the  fertile  country 
which  now  forms  the  counties  of  Kent  and  Surrey,  while 
this  skirmishing  species  of  warfare  continued,  often  with  re 
sults  favorable  to  the  Britons.  But  the  fatal  want  of  union 
common  to  barbarous  tribes  lent  aid  to  the  Romans.  Cassi 
velanus  was  deserted  by  his  neighbors  the  Trinobantes,  who 
sent  ambassadors  to  Csesar,  asking  the  restoration  of  their 
king  Mandubratius,  a  fugitive  in  Gaul,  where  he  had  implored 
the  protection  of  the  Romans  against  this  same  Cassivelanus, 
who  had  conquered  and  put  to  death  the  father  of  his  rival. 
On  this  condition  the  Trinobantes  offered  their  submission. 
Some  other  tribes  followed  their  example.  These  seceders 
acquainted  the  Romans  with  the  road  to  Cassivelanus's  capital, 
situated  on  the  environs  of  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the 
town  of  St.  Alban's.  This  was  a  collection  of  huts,  remind 
ing  beholders  of  the  dwellings  of  the  Gauls.  They  rested 
on  a  foundation  made  of  stones,  from  which  arose  the  walls 
composed  of  timber,  earth,  and  reeds,  and  surmounted  by  a 
conical  roof,  which  served  at  once  to  admit  daylight  and  to 
allow  smoke  to  escape  through  a  hole  in  the  top.  Fens  and 
woods,  surrounded  by  a  ditch  and  earthworks,  protected  this 
primitive  capital,  which  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Romans. 

Cassivelanus  had  only  one  hope  left.  He  had  given  orders 
to  the  four  chiefs  who  had  the  command  in  Kent  to  attack 
the  Roman  vessels.  They  obeyed,  but  the  detachment  charged 
with  the  protection  of  the  fleet  was  on  its  guard.  The  Britons 

VOL.  I.  3 


18  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  I. 

were  repulsed.  Cassivelanus,  beaten  and  discouraged,  hum 
bled  himself  so  far  as  to  sue  for  peace.  Nevertheless,  when 
Csesar,  at  the  commencement  of  September,  retired  once  more 
to  Gaul,  he  left  in  Britain  neither  a  soldier  nor  a  fortress. 
The  second  campaign,  longer  and  more  fortunate  than  the 
first,  had  not  produced  any  greater  results. 

Ninety-six  years  elapsed:  the  Roman  Republic  had  become 
the  Roman  Empire ;  but  the  Britons  had  been  troubled  by 
no  new  invasion.  The  Belgian  population  of  the  sea-coast 
had  continued  to  cultivate  their  fields,  to  which  they  already 
knew  how  to  apply  marl  for  manure.  They  had  woven  in 
peace  their  long  brogues,  or  checkered  breeches,  their  square 
mantles,  and  their  tunics.  The  Celts,  more  savage,  had  seen 
their  flocks  multiply  around  them.  Even  this,  the  only  kind 
of  wealth  among  barbarous  tribes,  did  not  exist  in  the  north 
ern  part  of  Britain.  The  rude  inhabitants  of  Scotland  depended 
only  on  the  products  of  the  chase,  and  found  a  shelter  for 
their  almost  naked  state  in  the  hollow  of  rocks,  or  in  the  ob 
scurity  of  caverns;  but  no  invader  had  come  to  trouble  their 
wild  liberty  up  to  the  day  when  the  Emperor  Claudius,  in 
the  year  45  of  the  Christian  Era,  conceived  the  project  of 
marching  in  the  footsteps  of  Csesar,  and  subduing  the  savage 
land  of  Britain.  One  of  the  most  experienced  of  his  generals, 
Aulus  Plautius,  sent  forward  with  a  force  of  fifty  thousand 
men,  obtained  at  first  some  successes,  notwithstanding  the 
resistance  of  the  chief  of  the  Silures,  Caractacus.  When  the 
Emperor  arrived,  the  capital  of  this  people  was  captured,  and 
several  tribes  had  submitted  almost  without  a  struggle.  Clau 
dius  returned  to  Rome  to  enjoy  there  the  honors  of  an  easy 
triumph. 

Thirty  battles  fought  by  Aulus  Plautius  were  insufficient  to 
reduce  Caractacus.  Ostorius  Scapula  was  the  first  to  succeed 
in  establishing  on  the  Severn  a  line  of  forts  separating  from 


CARACTACUS  AND   HIS  WIFE  BEFORE  CLAUDIUS  AND  AGRIPPINA. 


CHAP.  I.]  ANCIENT  POPULATIONS.  —  ROMAN  DOMINION.   19 

the  rest  of  the  island  the  country,  now  become  Roman,  which 
comprised  nearly  all  the  southern  tribes.  The  Britons,  who 
appeared  to  be  subdued,  were  disarmed.  But  a  new  insur 
rection  soon  broke  forth.  The  Iceni,  who  occupied  the  coun 
try  now  known  as  the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  were 
the  first  to  rise.  The  Cangi  followed  their  example  ;  and  in 
order  to  reduce  them  the  praetor  was  compelled  to  pursue 
them  as  far  as  to  within  one  day's  march  of  the  sea  which 
separates  England  from  Ireland.  From  the  territory  of  the 
Brigantes,  which  embraced  a  portion  of  the  present  counties 
of  Lancashire  and  York,  Ostorius  hastened  to  invade  the 
Silures,  who  inhabited  the  southern  portion  of  Wales,  and 
who  were  always  the  most  indomitable  opponents  of  a  foreign 
domination.  "  Behold  the  day  which  is  to  decide  the  fate  of 
Britain  !  "  exclaimed  Caractacus  at  the  sight  of  the  Romans. 
"  To-day  begins  the  era  either  of  liberty  or  eternal  slavery. 
Remember  that  your  ancestors  were  able  to  drive  back  the 
great  Csesar,  and  to  save  their  liberty,  their  life,  and  their 
honor !  "  He  spoke  in  vain.  The  naked  breasts  and  bare 
heads  of  the  Britons  could  not  resist  the  broad  swords  of  the 
Roman  soldiers.  The  massacre  was  horrible.  The  wife  and  the 
daughter  of  Caractacus  were  captured,  but  the  chief  himself 
had  disappeared.  Hoping  to  renew  the  struggle,  he  had  taken 
refuge  with  his  mother-in-law,  Cartismandua,  queen  of  the 
Brigantes.  She  delivered  him  up  to  the  Romans.  Caractacus 
was  sent  to  Rome  with  his  family.  "  How  can  men  who 
possess  such  palaces  make  such  efforts  to  conquer  our  miser 
able  hovels  ? "  exclaimed  the  British  hero,  while  traversing 
the  streets  of  Rome.  He  appeared  before  the  tribunal  of  the 
emperor.  Agrippina  was  there  by  the  side  of  her  husband. 
The  wife  of  Caractacus  threw  herself  at  her  feet,  imploring 
her  pity ;  but  the  conquered  chief  asked  for  nothing,  and 
exhibited  no  sign  of  fear.  This  greatness  in  defeat  penetrated 


20  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  I. 

to  the  heart  and  to  the  sluggish  mind  of  Claudius.  He  gave 
the  order  to  set  the  captives  free.  Tradition  states  that  he 
even  restored  to  his  prisoner  a  portion  of  his  territory,  but 
Tacitus  does  not  mention  this ;  he  leaves  the  story  of  the 
vanquished  chief  at  the  point  where  the  fetters  fall  from  his 
hands. 

For  a  moment  Nero,  who  had  become  emperor,  thought  of 
abandoning  the  conquest  of  Britain,  so  difficult  to  secure.  It 
was  not  until  the  year  59  A.  D.  that  Paulinus  Suetonius,  at 
that  time  prsetor,  resolved  to  crush  the  resistance  of  the 
Britons  in  their  innermost  retreat.  The  island  of  Mona  (now 
Anglesey)  was  consecrated  to  the  Druid  worship  ;  the  priests 
had  nearly  all  taken  refuge  there,  and  there  the  defeated 
chiefs  found  an  asylum.  Religion  even  then  exercised  a  con 
siderable  power  over  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  of  Britain. 
In  no  part  were  the  Druids  more  numerous  and  powerful ; 
nowhere  had  they  a  greater  number  of  disciples  diligently 
occupied  during  long  years  in  engraving  upon  their  memory 
the  regulations  of  their  worship,  the  sacred  maxims,  the 
ancient  poems,  which  the  priests  did  not  allow  to  be  com 
mitted  to  writing.  Great,  therefore,  was  the  emotion  in 
Britain  when  the  Romans  were  seen  to  attack  the  holy  isle. 

On  the  shore  a  great  crowd  awaited  the  advance  of  the 
enemy,  "  savage  and  diversified  "  in  appearance,  says  Tacitus. 
The  armed  men  were  assembled  in  a  mass ;  the  women,  attired 
in  sombre  dress,  running  about  with  dishevelled  hair,  like 
furies  brandishing  their  torches;  and  the  Druids  were  stand 
ing,  clothed  in  their  long  white  robes,  as  if  about  to  sacrifice 
to  their  gods,  their  heads  shaved,  their  beards  long,  their 
hands  raised  to  heaven,  while  they  pronounced  the  terrible 
maledictions  of  the  Celtic  races  against  the  enemies  of  their 
people  and  their  divinities.  The  Roman  soldiers  hesitated ; 
their  limbs  seemed  paralyzed  by  fear,  and  they  exposed  them- 


THE   LAST   OF  THE   DRUIDS 


CHAP.  L]   ANCIENT  POPULATIONS.  —  ROMAN  DOMINION.  21 

selves,  without  resisting,  to  the  blows  of  their  enemies.  Their 
general  urged  them  to  advance.  At  length,  each  encouraging 
the  other  to  despise  the  infuriated  cries  of  a  band  of  priests 
and  women,  they  rushed  upon  the  Britons,  and  precipitated 
them  upon  the  stakes  which  they  had  prepared  in  order  to 
sacrifice  the  Roman  prisoners  to  their  gods.  A  garrison  was 
placed  on  the  island ;  the  sacred  grove  was  cut  down ;  and 
the  fugitive  Druids  disappeared,  to  seek  an  asylum  among 
the  tribes  which  still  offered  a  resistance. 

The  number  of  these  tribes  had  increased  in  the  absence 
of  the  praetor.  The  infamous  treatment  inflicted  upon  Boa- 
dicea,  queen  of  the  Iceni,  and  her  children,  by  order  of  the 
procurator  Catus,  had  aroused  the  indignation  of  her  neigh 
bors  as  well  as  of  her  own  subjects.  By  secret  intrigues  the 
malcontents  from  all  quarters  were  invited  to  strike  a  great 
blow  for  the  recovery  of  their  liberty.  The  colony  of  Camalo- 
dunum  was  first  attacked  and  put  to  fire  and  sword.  Sue 
tonius  hastened  from  the  Isle  of  Mona,  and  marched  first 
towards  London,  already  an  important  and  populous  city. 
Defence  was  impossible.  The  praetor  withdrew  the  garrison 
to  protect  the  rest  of  the  provinces,  and  all  the  citizens  who 
had  not  been  able  to  retire  under  the  shelter  of  the  Roman 
eagles  were  massacred.  The  Roman  colony  of  Verulam  suf 
fered  the  same  fate.  It  is  said  that  more  than  seventy 
thousand  Romans  and  their  allies  had  already  perished  under 
the  blows  of  the  insurgents,  when  the  two  armies  found 
themselves  confronted.  Queen  Boadicea  rode  along  the  ranks 
of  the  Britons,  clothed  in  a  robe  of  various  colors,  with  a 
golden  zone  around  her  waist.  She  reminded  her  country 
men  that  she  was  not  the  first  woman  who  had  led  them  to 
battle,  since  the  custom  of  the  country  often  called  to  the 
throne  the  widow  of  a  sovereign,  passing  over  his  children. 
She  spoke  of  the  irreparable  insults  which  she  had  under- 


22  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  I. 

gone,  of  the  misfortunes  of  the  nation,  and  she  exhorted  the 
warriors  to  immolate  all  the  Romans  to  Andrasta,  the  goddess 
of  victory.  The  Romans  remained  motionless ;  they  were 
awaiting  the  attack  of  the  Britons. 

The  barbarians,  excited  by  the  glowing  words  of  the  queen, 
rushed  upon  the  legions ;  the  Romans  bestirred  themselves  at 
length,  and  their  broad  swords  opened  for  them  a  passage 
through  the  midst  of  the  mass  of  Britons.  The  latter  fell 
without  flinching ;  but  their  enemy  advanced  to  the  line  of 
chariots,  and  put  to  the  sword  women  and  children.  It  is 
said,  though,  no  doubt,  with  the  usual  exaggeration  of  the 
time,  that  eighty  thousand  Britons  perished  on  that  day. 
Boadicea,  resolved  not  to  survive  her  hopes  of  vengeance, 
poisoned  herself  upon  the  battle-field. 

Successive  praetors  had  failed  to  establish  tranquillity  in 
Britain,  or  to  obtain  the  submission  of  the  people,  when 
Agricola,  father-in-law  of  the  celebrated  historian  Tacitus, 
arrived  in  his  turn  in  this  indomitable  island.  His  brilliant 
exploits  soon  caused  him  to  be  respected ;  but,  while  pursu 
ing  year  by  year  the  course  of  his  conquests,  he  endeavored 
to  found  the  Roman  rule  upon  the  most  durable  basis.  In 
his  hands  the  civil  administration  became  milder ;  the  Britons, 
governed  with  justice,  became  gradually  less  estranged  from 
their  conquerors.  A  taste  for  luxury  and  Roman  civilization 
began  to  distinguish  the  chiefs  admitted  to  the  praetorian 
court ;  the  Roman  toga  took  the  place  of  the  British  mantle  ; 
buildings  arose  upon  the  model  of  the  Roman  constructions ; 
children  began  to  speak  Latin ;  and  at  the  same  time  the 
spirit  of  liberty  and  resistance  diminished  among  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  south  of  Britain.  "  The  Britons  willingly  furnish 
recruits  to  our  armies,"  wrote  Tacitus ;  "  they  pay  the  taxes 
without  murmuring,  and  they  perform  with  zeal  their  duties 
towards  the  government,  provided  they  have  not  to  complain 


CHAP.  I.]   ANCIENT  POPULATIONS.  — ROMAN  DOMINION.  23 

of  oppression.  When  they  are  offended,  their  resentment  is 
prompt  and  violent ;  they  may  be  conquered,  but  not  tamed ; 
they  may  be  led  to  obedience,  but  not  to  servitude." 

The  military  progress  of  the  Roman  general  was  no  less 
important  than  his  moral  conquests.  He  had  reached  the 
Firth  of  Forth  and  the  narrow  isthmus  which  separates  this 
river  from  the  mouth  of  the  Clyde.  After  every  new  victory 
he  protected  the  subjected  territory  with  forts.  He  even 
constructed  a  wall,  the  ruins  of  which,  crossing  the  north  of 
England  from  the  Solway  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne,  bear 
to  this  day  his  name.  In  the  eighth  and  ninth  year  of  his 
government  he  passed  the  line  of  the  forts  and  penetrated 
into  Scotland,  the  country  of  the  Caledonians,  savage  tribes 
who  had  not  yet  beheld  the  Roman  eagles.  Scarcely  had  the 
conquerors  invaded  this  new  territory  when  the  Caledonians, 
under  the  command  of  their  chief,  Galgacus,  descended  from 
the  Grampian  Hills,  and  fell  upon  the  invader.  On  Ardoch 
Moor  traces  of  the  combat  still  exist,  together  with  the  lines 
of  the  Roman  encampment.  The  struggle  lasted  all  day,  and 
the  barbarians  were  defeated ;  but  on  the  morrow  at  sunrise 
they  had  disappeared,  and  the  Romans  found  themselves  alone 
in  the  midst  of  a  wild  country.  In  their  flight  the  Caledo 
nians  had  set  fire  to  their  habitations,  and  with  their  own 
hands  had  slain  their  wives  and  children,  to  prevent  their 
falling  victims  to  the  vengeance  of  the  conqueror.  The  savage 
tribes  had  returned  into  their  mountains,  leaving,  according 
to  the  chronicles,  ten  thousand  dead  upon  the  field  of  battle. 
Agricola  made  no  effort  to  pursue  them.  Falling  back  towards 
the  south,  he  dispatched  his  vessels  to  make  a  voyage  of 
exploration  all  round  the  island,  the  northern  shores  of  which 
had  not  yet  been  visited.  The  mariners  returned,  reporting 
that  no  tongue  of  land  connected  Britain  with  the  continent, 
that  they  had  seen  in  the  distance  Thule  (Iceland),  enveloped 


24  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  I. 

in  mists  and  eternal  snow,  and  that  the  seas  which  they  had 
traversed  were  of  a  sluggish  kind,  heavy  under  the  oar,  and 
vnever  agitated  by  wind  or  storms.  Agricola  was  recalled  to 
Rome  through  the  jealousy  of  the  Emperor  Domitian,  but 
his  wise  government  had  appeased  the  passions  of  the  Britons, 
and  for  thirty  years  afterwards  the  Roman  annals  contain  no 
mention  of  British  affairs  —  an  evidence  that  peace  reigned 
in  the  island. 

An  invasion  of  the  Caledonians  brought  the  Emperor  Ha 
drian  to  Britain  (120  A.  D.).  Having  driven  them  back  beyond 
the  forts  which  connected  the  mouth  of  the  Solway  on  the 
west  with  that  of  the  Tyne  on  the  eastern  coast,  he  caused 
to  be  raised  behind  this  rampart  an  enormous  wall,  fortified 
by  a  wide  fosse,  and  provided  with  towers  which  received  a 
garrison.  This  redoubt  is  still  partly  in  existence,  as  is  the 
wall  of  Antoninus,  constructed  some  years  later  across  the  isth 
mus  of  the  Forth,  after  a  fresh  invasion  of  the  barbarians. 

No  rampart,  however,  could  resist  the  warlike  ardor  of 
these  savage  populations ;  and  the  disorganization  which  had 
attacked  the  vast  body  of  the  Empire  began  to  make  itself 
felt  among  the  legions  established  in  Britain.  The  soldiers 
often  murmured ;  the  general,  Albinus,  after  having  refused 
the  title  of  Caesar  from  the  hands  of  the  Emperor  Commodus, 
accepted  it  upon  the  offer  of  Septimius  Severus,  and,  suddenly 
throwing  off  his  allegiance,  was  proclaimed  emperor  by  his 
troops.  Crossing  immediately  into  Gaul,  to  sustain  his  pre 
tensions  by  force  of  arms,  he  was  defeated  near  Revoux,  and 
paid  for  his  ambition  by  the  loss  of  his  head;  but  he  had 
brought  with  him  and  had  sacrificed  the  best  of  the  troops 
in  Britain,  both  Roman  and  native.  The  Caledonians  took 
advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  redouble  their  efforts,  and 
the  case  became  so  grave  that  the  emperor  left  Rome  to 
oppose  them  (207  A.  D.). 


CHAP.  I.]  ANCIENT  POPULATIONS.— ROMAN  DOMINION.    25 

Septimius  Severus  was  old  and  infirm,  but  his  spirit  was 
still  unsubdued.  When  he  entered  into  Caledonia  with  his 
son  Caracalla,  he  brought  in  his  train  enormous  armaments. , 
His  enemies  were  badly  armed  ;  they  carried  only  the  short 
sword  and  the  target,  which  their  descendants  in  the  High 
lands  still  employed  during  the  wars  of  the  last  century. 
But  they  were  skilled  to  take  advantage  of  the  natural  de 
fences  of  their  country;  and  without  being  able  to  meet  the 
Caledonians  in  a  fixed  battle,  the  emperor  had  lost,  it  is  said, 
fifty  thousand  men  before  abandoning  his  expedition.  He  had 
carried  the  name  and  arms  of  the  Romans  so  far  that  he  had 
no  intention  of  retaining  the  territory  which  he  had  trav 
ersed.  He  left  there  neither  fortress  nor  garrison;  but  when 
he  had  returned  into  the  subjected  territory,  he  separated  it 
from  Caledonia  by  a  new  rampart,  more  imposing  than  all 
those  of  his  predecessors.  For  two  years  the  legions  were 
employed  in  constructing  it  in  stone,  fortifying  it  with  towers, 
and  surrounding  it  with  roads.  The  remains  of  this  gigantic 
work  attest  to  this  day  the  power  of  those  who  raised  it. 
The  Caledonians,  however,  had  just  attempted  another  inva 
sion,  when  the  emperor,  who  was  marching  against  them, 
died  at  York  (211  A.  D.)  ;  and  his  son  Caracalla,  compelled 
to  hasten  back  to  Rome  to  protect  the  safety  of  the  empire, 
hurriedly  concluded  with  the  rude  tribes  a  peace  which  lasted 
for  some  years. 

It  was  not  until  the  year  228,  under  the  reign  of  Diocletian 
and  Maximian,  that  the  dangers  which  threatened  Britain 
again  disturbed  the  repose  of  the  emperors.  Her  shores  were 
threatened  by  Saxon  and  Scandinavian  pirates.  A  commander 
of  Belgian  origin  named  Carausius  was  sent  against  them, 
who  crowned  his  success  by  causing  himself  to  be  proclaimed 
emperor  by  his  legions.  Diocletian  conferred  on  him  the 
title  of  Caesar.  This  new  sovereign  was  assassinated  at  York, 

VOL.  i.  4 


26  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.         [CHAP.  I. 

and  succeeded  in  the  year  297  by  his  minister  Allectus,  who 
himself  fell  soon  after  before  the  power  of  Constantius  Chlo- 
rus.  When  this  prince  died  at  York,  his  son  Constantine, 
proclaimed  emperor  by  his  troops,  carried  with  him,  on  leav 
ing  Britain,  a  great  number  of  the  young  men  of  the  country 
eager  to  serve  in  his  armies. 

The  Eoman  empire  110  longer  existed.  The  distant  seat  of 
power  had  been  transferred  to  Constantinople.  The  province 
of  Britain  escaped  from  the  imperial  watchfulness.  It  was  at 
the  same  time  ill  defended.  The  Caledonians  at  this  period 
had  yielded  their  place,  either  in  fact  or  in  name,  to  the 
Picts,  so  called  perhaps  by  the  Romans  on  account  of  the 
colors  with  which  they  painted  their  bodies:  Side  by  side 
with  them,  and  often  driving  them  back  upon  their  own  ter 
ritory,  were  the  Scots,  originally  from  Ireland,  from  which 
country  they  crossed  over  in  so  great  a  number  in  their  little 
flat-bottomed  boats  that  they  finally  gave  their  own  name  to 
the  country  they  invaded.  Under  the  Emperor  Valentinian 
we  find  them  pursuing  their  depredations  as  far  as  London, 
and  driven  back  to  their  own  country  with  great  difficulty  by 
Theodosius,  father  of  Theodosius  the  Great.  Before  him,  and 
after  his  death,  in  the  year  393,  Britain  presented  a  similar 
spectacle  to  that  of  the  other  Roman  provinces.  The  generals 
who  were  in  command  there,  were  proclaimed  emperors  by 
their  legions,  assassinated  by  their  rivals,  or  decapitated  by 
order  of  the  sovereign  rulers  of  Rome  or  Constantinople,  from 
the  moment  that  they  attempted  to  leave  the  island  to  extend 
their  conquests.  Every  one  of  these  attempts  cost  Britain  a 
number  of  soldiers,  and  contributed  to  weaken  a  race  already 
deteriorated  by  foreign  domination.  In  420,  under  the  Em 
peror  Honorius,  when  the  Empire  was  expiring  under  the 
attacks  of  the  barbarians,  the  Britons,  deposing  their  Roman 
magistrates,  proclaimed  their  independence,  which  was  imme- 


CHAP.  I.]    ANCIENT  POPULATIONS.  — ROMAN  DOMINION.    27 

diately  recognized  by  the  emperor.  But  the  Britons  were  not 
in  a  condition  to  struggle  against  the  invaders  who  were 
pressing  them  on  all  sides.  Like  the  Roman  Empire,  their 
country  was  fated  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  barbarians. 

Like  the  Roman  Empire,  however,  Britain  had  already 
received  the  principle  which  was  destined  to  save  her  from 
complete  desolation.  In  the  midst  of  political  disorganization, 
and  of  power  distributed  among  a  hundred  petty  chiefs,  all 
enemies  and  rivals,  she  had  already  heard  the  only  name  which 
has  been  given  to  men  for  their  salvation.  The  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  had  been  proclaimed  upon  her  shores.  At  what 
epoch,  or  by  whom,  is  not  known.  Probably  Rome  brought 
with  her  arms  the  Christian  faith  to  the  British  people ;  the 
Christians  were  numerous  in  the  imperial  armies,  and  their 
zeal  often  won  to  Jesus  Christ  the  souls  of  the  vanquished. 
Up  to  the  reign  of  Diocletian  the  progress  of  Christianity  in 
Britain  was  not  impeded  by  any  severity.  At  that  epoch 
(303-305)  the  great  persecution  which  was  raging  throughout 
the  Empire  extended  itself  to  Britain.  Constantius  Chlorus, 
who  was  then  governor,  favorable  though  he  was  to  the  gospel, 
was  nevertheless  unable  to  avoid  calling  around  him  the  offi 
cers  of  his  household,  and  announcing  to  them  the  necessity 
of  either  relinquishing  their  trusts  or  abjuring  the  name  of 
Christ.  Those  who  were  cowardly  enough  to  prefer  earthly 
greatness  to  Christian  fidelity  found  themselves  disappointed 
in  their  ambitious  hopes.  The  general  immediately  deprived 
them  of  office,  remarking  that  men  faithless  to  their  God 
would  be  equally  wanting  in  fidelity  to  their  emperor.  But 
the  moderation  of  Constantius  Chlorus  was  insufficient  to  ex 
tinguish  the  persecuting  zeal  of  the  inferior  magistrates ; 
and  the  British  Church  soon  counted  its  martyrs.  The  Chris 
tians  took  refuge  in  the  forests  and  the  hills.  They  were 
able  to  find  brethren  among  the  rude  tribes  of  the  north; 


28  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  I. 

for  Tertullian  tells  us  that,  in  the  portion  of  Britain  where 
the  arms  of  the  Romans  had  failed  to  penetrate,  Jesus  Christ 
had  conquered  souls.  With  the  power  of  Constantino  Chris 
tianity  ascended  the  throne  ;  the  British  Church  was  organized ; 
she  had  sent  three  bishops  to  the  Council  of  Aries  in  314 ; 
but  Britain  was  about  to  undergo  a  new  yoke ;  and  her  dawn 
ing  Christianity  was  destined  to  encounter  other  enemies. 


CHAP.  II.1  THE   RULE   OF  THE   SAXONS.  29 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  RULE  OF  THE    SAXONS   TO    THE    INVASION    OF   THE 
DANES.     449-832. 

DISCORD  prevailed  in  Britain.  The  petty  rival  chiefs, 
sometimes  triumphant,  sometimes  defeated,  united  in 
vain  against  the  Picts  and  Scots,  whom  the  Roman  walls  no 
longer  impeded  now  that  the  Roman  power  had  disappeared. 
In  this  disorder,  the  Britons  were  dwindling  in  numbers  day 
by  day,  when  Vortigern,  chief  of  Kent,  conceived  the  project 
of  calling  to  his  assistance  the  Saxons,  a  famous  people  who 
inhabited  the  northern  coasts  of  Germany  and  Denmark,  and 
extended  their  power  even  to  a  portion  of  the  territory  now 
known  as  Holland.  Several  tribes  were  descended  from  a 
common  origin.  The  Jutes,  the  Angles,  the  Saxons  (properly 
so  called)  all  led  the  life  of  pirates,  and  many  a  time  had  they 
suddenly  appeared  upon  the  coasts  of  Britain  or  of  Gaul, 
scattering  terror  among  the  inhabitants,  whose  houses  they 
pillaged  and  burned,  killing  all  who  resisted  them.  For  a 
long  time  they  risked  their  lives  and  sported  with  the  dangers 
of  the  sea  in  mere  skiffs ;  but  in  449,  when  Vortigern  called 
to  his  aid  two  celebrated  pirates  among  the  Jutes,  named 
Hengist  and  Horsa,  the  Saxon  vessels  were  long,  strongly 
built,  and  capable  of  carrying  a  considerable  number  of  men, 
and  of  wrestling  with  the  fury  of  the  waves.  The  pirates 
responded  promptly  to  the  appeal,  and  for  some  time  they 
faithfully  observed  their  engagements,  driving  the  Picts  and 
Scots  back  into  their  territory,  and  fighting  for  Vortigern 


30  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  II. 

against  his  British  enemies.  It  is  related  that  the  Saxon 
Hengist,  having  fortified  himself  at  Thong-Caster,  situated  in 
the  county  of  Lincoln,  gave  there  a  feast  to  King  Vortigern. 
Hengist  had  sent  for  his  daughter,  the  beautiful  Rowena,  who, 
bending  the  knee  before  the  British  sovereign,  offered  him 
the  cup  of  welcome.  Her  beauty  enchanted  Vortigern,  and 
he  could  not  rest  until  he  had  obtained  her  hand. 

Whether  from  a  weakness  for  the  father  of  his  wife,  or 
from  gratitude  for  services,  or  from  the  impossibility  of  rid 
ding  himself  of  the  allies  whom  he  had  sent  for,  Vortigern 
permitted  Hengist  to  establish  himself  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet ; 
and  gradually  fresh  vessels  arrived,  bringing  reinforcements  for 
the  foreign  colony.  Angles  followed  Jutes ;  and  the  Britons 
began  to  be  anxious  about  these  powerful  neighbors.  At  the 
first  quarrel  swords  were  drawn  from  their  scabbards.  Their 
blades  were  equally  good  and  keen ;  for  the  Britons  had 
derived  their  military  equipments  from  the  Romans,  and  the 
Saxons,  passionately  fond  of  iron,  attached  more  importance  to 
their  arms  than  to  any  other  possession.  But  the  Britons  had 
been  weakened  by  their  old  dissensions  ;  the  Saxons  allied 
themselves  with  the  Picts  and  Scots,  against  whom  they  had 
been  originally  called  to  fight,  and  several  indecisive  battles 
ended  in  a  truce.  It  is  even  related  that  the  two  parties 
being  assembled  at  a  banquet  at  Stonehenge,  on  the  1st  of 
May,  Hengist  cried  out  to  the  Saxons  in  their  language,  "  Draw 
your  swords!"  and,  at  the  same  moment,  the  long  knives 
concealed  under  the  garments  of  the  Saxons  were  plunged 
into  the  hearts  of  their  entertainers.  Vortigern  alone  was 
spared,  no  doubt  at  the  intercession  of  Rowena.  The  war 
began ;  the  Britons  were  defeated,  and  Eric,  son  of  Hengist, 
became  in  457  the  first  Saxon  king  of  the  county  of  Kent, 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  that  part  of  the  coast  of  Hampshire 
which  faces  that  island. 


CHAP.  II.]  THE   RULE   OF    THE    SAXONS.  31 

The  success  of  Hengist  and  Horsa  naturally  attracted  new 
hordes.  In  the  year  477  the  Saxons,  under  the  command  of 
Ella,  founded  the  kingdom  of  Sussex  (South  Sax),  which 
comprised  only  the  present  county  of  Sussex.  In  the  year 
519  other  Saxons,  under  the  orders  of  Cerdic,  completed  the 
invasion  of  South  Britain,  and  extended  themselves  from  the 
county  of  Surrey,  bordering  upon  Sussex  and  Kent,  to  the 
eastern  extremity  of  England  ;  they  occupied  also  Surrey  arid 
all  that  portion  of  Hampshire  not  in  the  possession  of  the 
Jutes,  together  with  Hampshire,  Wiltshire,  Somersetshire,  and 
Devonshire,  not  even  leaving  to  the  Britons  the  whole  of 
the  county  of  Cornwall.  This  new  kingdom  took  the  name 
of  Wessex  (West  Sax). 

The  invaders  grew  bolder.  In  530  a  new  body  of  Saxons, 
the  name  of  whose  leader  is  not  recorded  in  history,  arrived, 
and  established  themselves  upon  the  northern  border  of  the 
kingdoms  of  Kent  and  Wessex,  founding  there  the  kingdom 
of  Essex  (East  Sax),  the  importance  of  which  was  due  to 
the  Thames  and  London,  since  it  comprised  only  the  county 
of  Essex,  the  small  territory  of  Middlesex,  and  the  southern 
part  of  the  county  of  Herts. 

"  Thus,"  says  M.  Guillaume  Guizot,  in  his  History  of  Alfred 
the  Great,  "  the  Saxons  originally  rested  their  power  upon 
the  first  state  founded  by  the  Jutes  at  the  south-eastern  ex 
tremity  of  England.  They  surrounded  it  by  their  own  settle 
ments,  and  all  established  themselves  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  island."  They  had  scarcely  completed  their  migrations 
when  the  Angles,  who  had  then  arrived  only  in  small  numbers, 
and  were  mingled  with  the  Jutes,  began  on  their  own  account 
to  invade  the  eastern  coast.  About  the  year  527  several 
bands  of  Angles  arrived  under  different  chiefs ;  but  it  was 
not  until  some  years  later  that  they  united  to  form  the  king 
dom  of  East  Anglia,  which  comprised  the  counties  of  Norfolk, 


32  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  II. 

Suffolk,  Cambridge,  the  Isle  of  Ely,  and  probably  a  portion 
of  Bedfordshire.  The  territories  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  owe 
even  their  names  to  two  tribes  of  Angles,  the  North  folk  and 
the  South  folk,  while  the  entire  race  have  given  their  name 
to  England.  This  new  kingdom,  still  isolated  as  well  as  de 
fended  by  the  sea,  was  fortified  by  fens  and  by  many  rivers. 
Where  natural  defences  were  wanting,  the  Angles  raised  earth 
works,  long  known  as  the  Giant's  Dyke,  then  as  the  Devil's 
Dyke.  In  spite  of  the  draining  of  the  fen,  tne  line  of  these 
works  can  be  traced  to  this  day. 

In  the  year  547,  new  bands  of  Angles,  led  by  a  chief 
named  Ida,  landed  upon  the  north-east  coast,  and  founded 
there  the  kingdom  of  Bernicia,  which  comprised  Northumber 
land  and  the  south  of  Pentland,  between  the  Tweed  and  the 
Firth  of  Forth.  Some  years  later,  in  560,  other  Angles,  no 
less  enterprising  than  their  predecessors,  established  themselves 
from  the  southern  limit  of  Bernicia  as  far  as  the  Humber,  and 
from  one  sea  to  the  other,  occupying  all  the  territory  of  the 
counties  of  Lancaster,  York,  Westmoreland,  Cumberland,  and 
Durham.  This  was  the  kingdom  of  Deira.  These  two  colo 
nies  were  united  under  the  same  sceptre  in  617,  and  took  the 
name  of  Northumbria. 

The  Angles  began  to  advance  from  the  coasts.  In  the  year 
586  they  occupied  all  the  country  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  river  Humber  and  the  kingdom  of  Deira  ;  on  the  west,  by 
Wales,  which  alone  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Britons ;  on 
the  south,  by  the  Saxon  kingdoms ;  and  on  the  south-east,  by 
the  Angles  of  East  Anglia.  Mercia,  as  the  new  kingdom  was 
called,  comprised  then,  on  the  south-east,  the  northern  part 
of  the  counties  of  Hertford  and  Bedford  ;  on  the  east,  all  the 
counties  of  Northampton,  Huntingdon,  and  Rutland  ;  on  the 
north,  the  counties  of  Lincoln,  Nottingham,  Derby,  and  Ches 
ter  ;  on  the  west,  Staffordshire,  Shropshire,  Worcestershire,  and 


CHAP.  II.]  THE    RULE    OF    THE    SAXONS.  33 

Herefordshire ;  in  the  centre  of  the  island,  Warwickshire  and 
Leicestershire ;  on  the  south,  Gloucestershire,  Oxfordshire,  and 
the  county  of  Buckingham.  In  this  kingdom,  the  most  ex 
tensive  of  all,  the  British  population  had  not  been  destroyed 
or  driven  back,  as  they  had  in  the  greater  portion  of  other 
parts;  they  continued  to  inhabit  their  ancient  country,  min 
gled  with  and  subject  to  the  Angles. 

Such  was  the  division  of  Britain  among  the  conquerors,  and 
the  constitution  of  the  Saxon  kingdoms.  This  is  what  is 
known  as  the  Heptarchy,  or  Octarchy,  according  to  whether 
we  place  the  denomination  before  or  after  the  union  of  the 
kingdoms  of  Deira  and  Bernicia  in  a  single  kingdom  of  North- 
umbria.  Such  was  the  new  scene  of  the  wars  which  were 
destined  to  break  out  again  and  deluge  Britain,  now  become 
England,  with  blood. 

A  more  gentle  influence  was  soon  to  exercise  its  effect 
upon  the  sanguinary  passions  of  the  barbarous  races.  The 
British  Christians,  though  vanquished  and  driven  back  into 
the  narrow  territory  of  Cambria  or  Wales,  do  not  seem  to 
have  attempted  to  convert  their  conquerors.  For  a  moment 
they  had  themselves  run  the  risk  of  falling  into  the  heresies 
of  Pelagius,  an  Irish  monk,  who  denied  the  doctrine  of  original 
sin ;  but  the  missionaries  from  Gaul,  Saint  Germain  and  Saint 
Loup,  had  succeeded  in  429  and  446  in  uprooting  among  them 
these  disastrous  tendencies.  One  day  Saint  Germain,  who  had 
been  a  soldier  before  being  a  bishop,  found  himself  in  the 
presence  of  a  baud  of  Picts  and  Saxons  who  were  laying  waste 
the  coast.  Putting  himself  at  the  head  of  his  flock,  he  marched 
against  the  enemy  amid  loud  cries  of  "Alleluia!"  These 
cries,  taken  up  by  the  neighboring  echoes,  terrified  the  pirates, 
who  fled;  hence  this  peaceful  victory  became  known  by  the 
name  of  "  The  Battle  of  the  Alleluias," 

The  Britons  were  not  heretics,  but,  with  the  independence 

VOL.  I.  5 


34  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  IL 

which  always  characterized  their  race,  they  differed  from  Rome 
and  from  the  Eastern  Church  upon  various  points  of  little 
importance  in  themselves,  though  they  had  often  created  di 
visions  in  Christendom.  For  no  reason  that  has  come  down 
to  us,  the  Britons  celebrated  Easter  in  accordance  with  the 
customs  of  the  Eastern  Church, — that  is  to  say,  at  the  four 
teenth  day  of  the  moon,  whatever  might  be  the  day  on  which 
that  event  fell,  in  imitation  of  the  Jews,  who  on  that  day 
offered  up  the  Paschal  lamb.  The  Western  Church,  on  the 
contrary,  postponed  the  celebration  of  Easter  till  the  Sunday 
following.  Nothing  more  was  needed  to  breed  dissensions 
between  the  British  bishops  and  the  missionaries  dispatched 
from  Rome  by  Pope  Gregory  the  Great.  For  some  years 
previously,  Gregory,  not  yet  become  a  bishop,  and  being  in 
fact  only  a  simple  priest,  passing  through  the  slave-market  in 
Rome,  had  been  struck  by  the  handsome  appearance  of  some 
young  persons  offered  there  for  sale.  Learning  that  they 
belonged  to  the  race  of  Angles,  or  Saxons,  "  They  would  not 
be  Angles  but  angels,"  he  exclaimed,  "if  they  were  Chris 
tians  ; "  and  he  conceived  the  project  of  going  himself  to 
preach  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  to  a  people  so  well  endowed 
by  nature.  His  friends  were  only  able  to  prevail  on  him  to 
renounce  his  intention  by  inducing  the  Pope  to  forbid  his 
departure  from  Rome.  When  in  his  turn  he  was  elevated 
to  the  episcopal  dignity  in  the  most  important  see  of  the 
Western  Church,  he  did  not  forget  the  Saxons,  whose  con 
version  had  previously  occupied  his  thoughts.  He  endeavored 
first  to  inflame  with  his  zeal  the  young  slaves  whom  he  had 
caused  to  be  placed  in  convents  ;  but  the  Saxons  were  appar 
ently  not  disposed  to  become  missionaries,  for  in  the  year 
595  the  Pope  dispatched  to  Britain  a  young  monk  named 
Augustine,  prior  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Andrew  at  Rome, 
accompanied  by  forty  friars.  They  took  the  road  towards 


CHAP.  II.]  THE   RULE    OF    THE    SAXONS.  35 

Gaul ;  but  they  had  scarcely  arrived  at  Aix,  when  they  heard 
such  terrible  accounts  of  the  ferocity  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
that  they  were  alarmed  and  wrote  to  the  Pope  to  ask  his 
leave  to  retrace  their  footsteps.  Gregory,  on  the  contrary, 
encouraged  them  to  persevere  in  their  enterprise,  and,  fur 
nished  with  interpreters  by  the  good  offices  of  Brunehaut, 
who  was  reigning  over  Austrasia  in  the  name  of  her  grand 
sons,  they  arrived  in  597  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet.  Augustine 
sent  immediately  one  of  his  monks  to  Ethelbert,  king  of  Kent, 
announcing  his  intention  of  coming  to  preach  Christianity  to 
his  court. 

The  place  could  not  have  been  better  chosen.  A  powerful 
prince  in  his  domains,  Ethelbert  was  their  Bretwalda,  or  gen 
eral  chief  of  all  the  heptarchy.  This  title,  which  was  in  no 
way  well  defined,  but  which  conferred  a  certain  influence  in 
the  councils  of  the  seven  Saxon  states,  seems  to  have  been 
accorded  to  a  kind  of  merit  understood  by  all.  Two  chiefs 
had  already  borne  it  before  Ethelbert  —  Ella,  first  king  of 
Sussex,  and  Ceawlin,  king  of  Wessex.  The  new  Bretwalda 
was  a  pagan,  but  he  had  married  a  Christian  wife,  Bertha, 
daughter  of  Charibert,  king  of  Paris :  she  had  reserved  to 
herself  the  free  exercise  of  her  religion ;  a  French  bishop  had 
even  accompanied  her.  Ethelbert  had  no  repugnance  towards 
Christianity,  and  he  consented  to  receive  the  Roman  mission 
aries.  "  Be  careful  to  grant  them  an  audience  in  the  open 
air,"  said  the  pagan  priests,  however ;  "  their  maledictions  will 
be  less  powerful  there  than  under  a  roof."  It  was  therefore 
in  the  open  field  that  the  Saxon  Bretwalda  awaited  the  ap 
proach  of  the  Christian  priests.  They  advanced  bearing  a 
crucifix  and  a  banner  on  which  was  painted  the  image  of 
the  Saviour.  They  made  the  air  resound  with  their  grave 
canticles.  The  imagination  of  the  barbarians  was  no  doubt 
struck  by  these  ceremonies ;  and  when  Augustine,  by  the  aid 


36  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  II. 

of  an  interpreter,  had  explained  to  the  king  the  leading  doc 
trines  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  asked  permission  to  preach 
to  his  subjects  the  religion  which  they  had  come  to  proclaim 
to  him,  Ethelbert  mildly  replied,  "  I  am  not  disposed  to  aban 
don  the  gods  of  my  fathers  for  an  unknown  and  uncertain 
faith ;  but  since  your  intentions  are  good  and  your  words  full 
of  gentleness,  you  can  speak  freely  to  my  people.  I  will 
prevent  any  one  interfering  with  you,  and  will  furnish  food 
to  you  and  your  monks."  Augustine,  overjoyed,  directed  his 
steps  towards  the  neighboring  city  of  Canterbury,  which  he 
entered  chanting,  "  O  Eternal  Father,  we  supplicate  Thee  ac 
cording  to  Thy  mercy,  turn,  Thy  anger  from  this  city  and 
from  Thy  sacred  place,  for  we  have  sinned.  Alleluia ! " 

The  preaching  of  Augustine  and  the  sanctity  of  his  life 
exercised  a  powerful  influence  over  the  Saxons.  Numerous 
converts  already  pressed  around  him  when  King  Ethelbert 
decided  to  embrace  the  Christian  religion.  His  conversion 
attracted  his  subjects  in  a  mass  to  the  new  Faith,  and  Pope 
Gregory,  delighted  with  the  success  of  the  mission,  sent  to 
Augustine  the  episcopal  pallium,*  with  the  title  of  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  At  the  same  time  Gregory  advised  the  new 
prelate  not  to  destroy  the  pagan  temples  to  which  the  people 
had  been  accustomed,  but  to  consecrate  them  to  the  worship 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  transform  the  pagan  festivals  into 
joyful  family'  meetings,  at  which  the  Christian  Saxons  could 
eat  their  oxen  instead  of  sacrificing  them  to  false  gods. 

With  these  sage  counsels  Gregory  sent  a  reinforcement  of 
missionaries ;  but  they  did  not  suffice  for  the  zeal  or  the  views 
of  Augustine,  who  resolved  to  address  himself  to  the  British 
bishops  in  Wales,  asking  their  assistance  in  the  work  of  evan 
gelization.  The  Britons  were  jealous  and  anxious.  They  con- 

*  An  ornament  of  woollen  texture,  sprinkled  with  black  crosses,  which  the 
Pope  sends  to  the  archbishops  and  sometimes  to  bishops. 


'SINCE  YOUR  INTENTIONS  ARE  GOOD,    YOU  CAN  SPEAK  FREELY  TO  MY  PEOPLE.' 


CHAP.  II.]  THE    RULE    OF    THE   SAXONS.  37 

suited  a  hermit  of  great  reputation  for  sanctity  upon  the 
claims  of  Augustine  to  their  trust  and  obedience.  "  If  the 
stranger  comes  from  God,  follow  him,"  said  the  hermit.  "  But 
how  shall  we  know  if  he  is  from  God  ?  "  asked  the  Britons. 
"By  his  humility."  .  .  .  The  reply  still  appeared  to  the  en 
voys  to  be  vague.  "  If  he  rises  at  your  approach,  know  that 
he  is  the  leader  sent  by  God  to  direct  his  people,"  continued 
the  hermit.  "If  he  remains  seated,  reject  him  because  of  his 
pride."  Fortified  with  this  precise  instruction,  the  British 
priests,  with  seven  bishops  and  the  Abbot  of  Bangor,  pre 
sented  themselves  at  the  conference.  Augustine  was  seated, 
and  did  not  rise  to  receive  them.  The  question  was  already 
settled  in  their  minds  when  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
stated  his  demands.  He  desired  that  the  British  priests  should 
henceforth  celebrate  the  festival  of  Easter  on  the  same  day 
as  the  Western  Church;  that  they  should  employ  the  Roman 
forms  in  the  ceremony  of  baptism,  and  that  they  should  join 
their  efforts  with  his  for  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons.  All 
these  proposals  were  rejected.  Then  Augustine  rose,  and  in 
a  loud  voice  exclaimed,  "  You  refuse  to  labor  to  convert  the 
Saxons  !  You  will  perish  by  the  swords  of  the  Saxons."  This 
prediction  was  remembered  some  years  later,  when  all  the 
monks  of  Bangor  were  massacred  by  the  Northumbrians  in  a 
Saxon  expedition  into  Cambria. 

In  spite  of  the  coolness  of  the  British  bishops,  the  work  of 
conversion  went  on.  The  zeal  of  Ethelbert  had  already  en 
gaged  his  nephew  Sebert,  king  of  Essex,  to  receive  baptism.  A 
church  had  been  founded  in  London  which  possessed  a  bishop. 
Another  prelate  had  his  seat  at  Rochester.  Ethelbert  had 
also  gained  over  to  the  Christian  faith  the  chief  of  East  An- 
glia,  Redwald,  who  became  after  him  Bretwalda  of  the  hep 
tarchy.  But  the  wife  of  Redwald  was  still  a  pagan,  and  his 
subjects  were  attached  to  the  religion  of  their  ancestors.  The 


38  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  II. 

king  set  up  two  altars  in  the  same  temple,  one  dedicated  to 
Odin  and  the  other  to  the  God  of  the  Christians ;  but  the 
new  faith  soon  prevailed  over  its  rival,  and  East  Anglia  took 
its  place  among  the  Christian  kingdoms  of  the  heptarchy. 

Christianity  had  not  yet  penetrated  into  Northumbria  when 
the  king  Edwin  married  a  daughter  of  Ethelbert,  a  Christian 
like  her  father.  The  queen  came  accompanied  by  a  Roman 
bishop  named  Paulinus ;  but  the  king  remained  faithful  to 
the  worship  of  his  forefathers  in  spite  of  the  solicitations  of 
his  wife,  of  Paulinus,  and  even  of  the  Pope.  He  had,  how 
ever,  consented  to  the  child  of  Ethelburga  being  baptized ; 
and  the  day  was  at  hand  when  his  scruples  were  destined  to 
be  overcome.  In  his  youth,  during  a  long  exile  and  in  the 
midst  of  serious  perils,  there  had  appeared  before  him,  doubt 
less  in  a  dream,  a  person  of  venerable  aspect,  who  asked 
him,  "  What  wouldst  thou  give  to  one  who  should  deliver 
thee  to-day?"  "All  that  I  possess,"  replied  the  Saxon. 
"  If  he  asked  thee  only  to  follow  his  counsels,  wouldst  thou 
obey?"  "Unto  death,"  was  the  answer.  "It  is  well,"  said 
the  apparition,  at  the  same  time  placing  his  hand  softly  upon 
his  head ;  "  when  one  shall  return  and  make  thee  this  sign, 
follow  him."  Edwin  had  escaped  from  the  dangers  which 
threatened  him,  and  his  dream  had  remained  deeply  engraved 
upon  his  memory. 

One  day  when  he  was  alone,  the  door  of  his  apartment 
opened,  and  Paulinus  entering,  softly  placed  his  hand  upon 
his  head.  "  Dost  thou  remember  ?  "  he  asked,  and  the  Saxon, 
falling  on  his  knees,  promised  to  do  whatever  he  should  desire. 
Still  thoughtful  and  prudent,  however,  while  accepting  bap 
tism  for  himself,  he  reserved  the  right  of  his  subjects  to  act 
as  might  seem  well  to  them.  The  Council  of  Wise  Men,  or 
Aldermen,  was  called  together,  and  the  king  having  informed 
them  of  his  change  of  faith  as  the  basis  of  a  new  doctrine, 


THE   SAXON   PRIEST   STRIKING   THE   IMAGES. 


ROWENA   AND   VORTIGERN. 


CHAP.  II.]  THE   RULE   OF  THE   SAXONS.  39 

asked  them  what  they  thought  of  it.  The  chief  of  the  priests 
was  there,  and  spoke  first.  "Our  gods  are  powerless,"  he 
said  ;  "  I  have  served  them  with  more  zeal  and  fidelity  than 
all  the  people,  yet  I  am  neither  richer  nor  more  honored.  I 
am  weary  of  the  gods." 

An  ancient  warrior  near  the  king  rose  at  this  speech.  "  O 
king,"  he  said,  "  thou  rememberest  perhaps  in  the  winter 
days  when  thou  art  seated  with  thy  captains  near  a  good 
fire,  lighted  in  a  warm  apartment,  while  it  is  raining  and 
snowing  out  of  doors,  that  a  little  bird  has  entered  by  one 
door  and  gone  out  by  another  with  fluttering  wings.  He 
has  passed  a  moment  of  happiness,  sheltered  from  the  rain 
and  the  storm ;  but  the  bird  vanishes  with  the  quickness  of 
a  glance,  and  from  winter  he  returns  again  to  winter.  Such 
it  appears  to  me  is  the  life  of  man  upon  this  earth.  The 
unknown  time  is  dark  and  sad  to  us.  It  perplexes  us  because  we 
know  nothing  of  it.  If  thy  new  faith  teaches  us  something, 
it  is  worthy  of  our  adherence." 

The  whole  assembly  took  the  side  of  the  two  chiefs ;  but 
when  Paulinus  proposed,  as  a  token  of  renunciation  to  false 
gods,  that  their  idols  should  be  cast  down,  all  hesitated  ex 
cept  the  high-priest.  He  demanded  a  horse  and  a  javelin  in 
the  place  of  the  mare  and  the  white  rod  which  pertained  to 
his  old  office,  and  galloping  towards  the  temple,  he  struck 
the  images  with  his  weapon.  The  people,  trembling,  awaited 
some  token  of  the  wrath  of  the  gods ;  but  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  remained  silent,  and  the  king  was  baptized  with 
all  the  most  distinguished  of  his  people,  who  were  accompanied 
by  a  crowd  of  warriors.  Edwin  soon  became  Bretwalda,  and 
his  reign  was  an  epoch  of  repose  and  happiness  for  his 
subjects. 

During  the  struggles  which  recommenced  after  the  death  of 
Edwin,  three  kingdoms  fortified  themselves,  and  took  the  lead 


40  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  II. 

over  the  others.  These  were  Northumbria,  Mercia,  and  Wes- 
sex.  These  three  divisions  of  the  heptarchy  were  predominant 
in  the  year  800,  when  Egbert,  prince  of  Wessex,  returned  to 
his  country  after  a  long  exile.  He  had  passed  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  time  at  the  court  of  Charlemagne,  and  had  thus 
acquired  a  development  of  intellect  and  of  knowledge  rare  at 
that  time  among  the  Saxon  princes.  The  first  part  of  his 
reign  was  peaceful ;  but  from  the  year  809  forward  the  sword 
of  Egbert  was  drawn  from  the  scabbard,  and  for  many  years 
he  pursued  his  conquests  from  kingdom  to  kingdom.  He  had 
already  extended  his  dominion  over  the  British  people  of  Corn 
wall,  who  had  consented  to  pay  him  tribute,  when  he  subju 
gated  Mercia  and  the  kingdoms  of  Kent,  Essex,  and  East  An- 
glia.  He  had  carried  his  victorious  arms  up  to  the  frontiers 
of  Northumbria.  The  chiefs,  anxious  and  already  beaten  in 
anticipation,  came  to  meet  him,  recognizing  him  for  their 
sovereign,  and  promising  him  obedience.  Egbert  accepted 
their  homage,  and  retired  without  fighting  a  battle.  Nearly 
the  whole  heptarchy  had  accepted  his  laws,  and  the  title  of 
Bretwalda  had  conferred  upon  him  an  authority  more  consid 
erable  than  in  the  case  of  any  of  his  predecessors.  He  con 
tinued,  however,  to  assume  the  simple  title  of  King  of  Wessex. 
He  reigned  until  the  year  836,  happy  and  powerful ;  but  the 
last  years  of  his  reign  were  troubled  by  the  first  invasions  of 
the  Danes.  Egbert  repulsed  them  with  glory ;  but  if  he  had 
possessed  a  spark  of  the  almost  prophetic  foresight  of  Charle 
magne,  he  would  have  wept,  like  the  Prankish  hero,  over 
the  infinite  woes  with  which  these  men  from  the  North  men 
aced  his  country. 


CHAP.  III.]     THE  DANES.  —  ALFRED    THE    GREAT.  41 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  DANES.  —  ALFRED  THE  GREAT.  836-901. 

FOR  nearly  four  centuries  the  Saxons  had  been  estab 
lished  in  Britain ;  they  had  become  the  sole  masters 
of  the  country,  and  had  there  forgotten  the  original  source 
of  their  wealth.  But  the  nation  from  which  they  had  sprung 
was  still  prolific  in  warriors,  vigorous,  enterprising,  and  pos 
sessed  of  nothing  in  the  world  but  their  arms  and  their  ships, 
for  all  the  property  of  the  family  belonged  by  right  to  the 
eldest  son :  warriors,  too,  ardent  in  conquering  and  in  obtain 
ing  wealth  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  The  peninsula  of 
Jutland  and  the  provinces  still  further  north  of  Scandinavia 
sent  year  by  year  to  the  French  and  English  coasts  a  great 
number  of  ships,  manned  by  the  "  Sea-kings,"  as  they  styled 
themselves.  "  The  tempest  is  our  friend,"  they  would  say  ; 
"  it  takes  us  wherever  we  wish  to  go."  Repulsed  three 
times  from  the  coast  of  England  by  Egbert,  these  pirates 
soon  reappeared  under  the  reign  of  his  son  Ethelwulf;  the 
whole  island  became  surrounded  by  their  light  skiffs.  The 
Saxons  had  been  compelled  to  organize  along  the  shores  a 
continual  resistance,  and  to  appoint  officers  whose  duty  it 
was  to  call  out  the  people  in  a  body  to  repulse  the  enemy. 
Three  serious  contests  took  place  in  839  —  at  Rochester,  at 
Canterbury,  and  at  London.  King  Ethelwulf  himself  was 
wounded  in  battle.  But  shortly  after,  the  internal  dissensions 
which  were  agitating  the  whole  of  France,  attracted  the  pirates 
as  the  dead  body  attracts  the  vulture.  During  twelve  years 
VOL.  I.  6 


42  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  III. 

the  Danish  fleets  altered  their  course,  and  repaired  to  the 
French  coasts ;  when  they  reappeared,  in  831,  in  England,  their 
successes  were  at  first  alarming ;  three  hundred  and  fifty  of 
their  vessels  ascended  the  Thames  as  far  as  London,  and  the 
town  was  sacked.  But  the  king  awaited  the  enemy  at  Oakly ; 
they  were  defeated,  and  suffered  great  losses.  After  having 
met  with  severe  reverses  at  several  other  parts  of  the  Saxon 
territory,  the  Danes  withdrew  from  there,  and  respected  the 
English  coasts  during  the  remainder  of  the  reign  of  Ethel- 
wulf. 

It  is  at  this  period  that  we  see  appear  in  the  pages  of 
history  the  name  of  the  fourth  son  of  Ethelwulf,  him  whom 
England  was  one  day  to  call  Alfred  the  Great,  Alfred  the 
Well-beloved.  He  had  first  seen  the  light  of  day  at  Wantage, 
in  the  heart  of  the  forests  of  Berkshire,  in  849,  two  years 
before  the  departure  of  the  Danes.  His  mother,  Osberga,  a 
noble  and  pious  woman,  gave  herself  up  entirely  to  the  task 
of  rearing  her  little  son,  who  soon  began  to  excite  the  hope 
and  admiration  of  all  who  saw.  him.  Doubtless  the  predilec 
tion  which  his  father  had  for  this  little  child,  induced  him 
to  give  a  startling  proof  of  his  affection,  for  Alfred  was 
scarcely  four  years  of  age  when  he  was  sent  to  Rome  with 
a  numerous  suite  of  nobles  and  servants,  to  ask  for  himself, 
of  Pope  Leo  IV.,  the  title  of  king,  and  the  holy  unction. 
The  pope  was  aware  of  the  piety  of  the  Saxon  monarch,  and 
he  consecrated  with  his  own  hands  the  little  king,  and  even 
administered  to  him  the  sacrament  of  confirmation.  Alfred 
returned  to  England,  and  it  was  no  doubt  the  recollection  of 
what  he  had  seen  at  Rome,  which  began  thenceforward  to 
instil  into  his  soul  the  desire  to  gain  knowledge,  the  pursuit 
of  which  was  probably  very  rare  among  the  young  Saxons. 
His  mother,  one  day,  was  holding  a  pretty  manuscript  in  her 
hand,  a  collection  of  ancient  Saxon  poems,  and  was  showing 


CHAP.  III.]       THE   DANES.  — ALFRED   THE   GREAT.  43 

it  to  her  four  sons  who  were  playing  beside  her.  "  I  will 
give  this  pretty  book,"  she  said,  "  to  whichever  of  you  shall 
learn  it  the  soonest  by  heart."  Ethelbald,  Ethelbert,  and 
Ethelred  eyed  the  book  with  indifference,  and  went  on  with 
their  game;  but  little  Alfred  approached  his  mother.  "Really," 
said  he,  "  will  you  give  this  beautiful  manuscript  to  whoever 
shall  learn  it  by  heart  the  quickest,  and  who  shall  come  and 
repeat  it  all  to  you?"  The  large  round  eyes  of  the  child 
were  fixed  upon  his  mother:  she  repeated  her  promise,  and 
even  gave  up  the  manuscript  into  the  keeping  of  the  little 
prince.  He  quickly  hurried  away  with  it  to  his  master,  who 
was  able  to  read  aloud  to  him  the  verses  which  it  contained, 
for,  alas  !  Alfred  could  not  read  until  he  was  twelve  years  of 
age.  He  soon  returned,  triumphant,  repeated  the  lines,  re 
ceived  the  book  from  his  mother,  and  preserved  thenceforth 
throughout  his  life  a  taste  for  the  old  Saxon  ballads  of  which 
he  had  thus  first  made  the  acquaintance. 

Alfred  was  six  years  old  and  had  lost  his  mother,  when 
his  father,  wishing  to  make  the  pilgrimage  to  Rome  in  his 
turn,  took  his  youngest  son  with  him :  the  Saxon  king  spent 
a  year  with  the  pope,  carrying  from  church  to  church  his 
sumptuous  devotion.  On  his  return  journey  he  stopped  at 
the  court  of  Charles  the  Bold,  a  court  elegant  and  polite  in 
comparison  with  the  still  rude  customs  of  the  Saxons ;  and, 
attracted  by  the  beauty  as  well  as  the  arts  of  Princess  Judith, 
daughter  of  Charles,  Ethelwulf  married  her,  notwithstanding 
the  disparity  in  their  ages,  and  brought  her  in  triumph  into 
his  kingdom.  But  the  two  persons  whom  the  old  king  loved 
best,  his  young  wife  and  his  youngest  son,  were  distrusted  by 
the  rest  of  his  family,  as  well  as  by  his  people  ;  Judith  claimed 
a  share  of  the  sovereign  power,  according  to  the  old  custom 
in  Britain  and  Germany,  which  had  become  odious  to  the 
Saxons  by  reason  of  the  crimes  of  several  queens ;  the  elder 


44  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  III. 

sons  of  Ethelwulf  feared  that  their  young  brother,  so  dear  to 
their  father,  might  be  raised  above  themselves ;  the  eldest, 
Ethelbald,  revolted,  and  his  father  found  a  general  rising 
against  him  when  he  returned  to  England.  The  old  king  did 
not  resist ;  he  ceded  to  his  son  the  greater  portion  of  his  states, 
and  died  at  the  end  of  two  years,  having  shared  equally  be 
tween  his  sons  his  kingdom  of  Wessex,  previously  enlarged 
by  the  addition  of  Kent  and  Sussex.  The  tributary  states  of 
Northumbria  and  Mercia  had  shaken  off  the  feeble  authority 
of  Ethelwulf,  and  had  recommenced  their  internal  wars.  The 
Danes  profited  by  these  disputes,  and  had  taken  up  with 
renewed  ardor  their  terrible  incursions  upon  the  English 
coasts. 

In  this  alarming  situation  of  affairs  the  sons  of  Ethelwulf 
foresaw  that  the  division  of  Wessex  would  be  their  ruin; 
instead,  therefore,  of  sharing  it  among  themselves,  they  agreed 
that  each  should  reign  over  the  whole  in  turn,  according  to 
their  ages.  The  reigns  of  the  three  eldest  were  short.  Sup 
ported  successively  by  their  brothers,  they  fought  against  the 
Danes,  and  all  died  in  the  flower  of  their  youth ;  the  last, 
Ethelred,  was  still  on  the  throne,  when  an  invasion  of  the 
Danes,  who  penetrated  as  far  as  Reading,  called  all  the  men 
of  Wessex  to  arms.  The  war  had  a  short  time  before  assumed 
a  new  aspect ;  the  Danes  did  not  content  themselves  with 
descending  upon  the  most  fertile  portions  of  the  coast  with 
their  long  ships,  or  with  taking  possession  of  all  the  horses. 
Overrunning  the  country,  they  ravaged  and  sacked  everything 
in  their  passage,  and  re-embarked  in  their  vessels  before  the 
frightened  inhabitants  had  had  time  to  rise  up  to  resist  them. 
From  pirates  the  Danes  had  become  conquerors,  and  desired 
to  establish  themselves  in  that  England  which  their  prede 
cessors,  the  Saxons,  had  formerly  snatched  from  the  Britons. 
Already  possessed  of  East  Anglia  and  a  portion  of  Northumbria, 


CHAP.  III.]       THE   DANES.  —  ALFRED   THE   GREAT.  45 

they  were  threatening  Wessex,  and  had  intrenched  them 
selves  at  Reading.  Alfred  had  recently  been  married  to  a 
princess  of  Mercia,  but  his  new  relations  did  not  give  him 
any  support  against  the  Danes,  when,  having  beaten  several 
detached  corps  of  the  pirates,  Ethelred  and  Alfred  attacked 
the  citadel.  The  greater  number  of  the  Danes  sprang  outside 
the  walls,  "like  veritable  wolves,"  says  Asser,  the  historian 
of  Alfred,  and  the  struggle  recommenced. 

The  Danes  were  nearly  all  tall  men ;  their  wandering  and 
adventurous  life  favored  the  development  of  their  muscular 
powers ;  they  did  not  fear  death,  for  the  Walhalla  or  para 
dise  of  their  god  Odin  promised  to  the  brave  warriors  who 
fell  in  battle  all  the  pleasure  which  they  esteemed  most  on 
earth.  The  figure  of  the  raven,  the  confidant  of  their  god, 
floated  on  the  red  flags  of  the  Danes;  if  its  dark  wings  flut 
tered  on  the  long  folds  of  silk,  victory  was  certain  ;  if  they 
remained  motionless,  the  Northmen  feared  defeat.  The  wings 
of  the  raven  were  fluttering  triumphantly  before  Reading,  for 
the  Saxons  were  defeated  and  were  obliged  to  retreat. 

They  had  not  lost  courage,  however,  and  four  days  later 
they  returned  to  give  battle  once  more  to  their  enemies ;  the 
Danes  had  already  issued  forth  from  their  intrenchments,  but 
Ethelred  was  still  in  his  tent,  attending  holy  mass,  and  would 
not  hurry  to  the  scene  of  battle,  in  spite  of  urgent  messages 
from  Alfred.  The  latter,  therefore,  attacked  their  opponents 
single-handed,  near  to  a  little  tree  which  the  Danes  had  chosen 
as  a  rallying-spot.  The  Saxons  fought  with  the  fury  of  despair ; 
Ethelred  soon  came  to  support  his  brother,  and  the  Danes, 
beaten  upon  the  great  plain  of  Assendon,  took  to  flight;  but 
only  to  return  a  fortnight  afterwards,  their  number  swelled 
by  the  reinforcements  which  were  continually  arriving  by  sea. 
Wessex  alone  had  sustained  eight  battles  in  one  year ;  her  re 
sources  were  becoming  exhausted  in  such  an  unequal  struggle  ; 


46  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  III. 

Ethelred,  wounded,  had  just  died,  and  Alfred  found  himself 
alone  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years  (871),  subject  to  a 
peculiar  illness  which  had  succeeded  to  a  slow  fever  of  his 
boyhood,  and  of  which  the  attacks  would  frequently  bring 
him  to  the  very  verge  of  the  grave.  His  men  and  his  re 
sources  exhausted,  a  ninth  and  unfortunate  battle  completely 
disabled  him  ;  he  was  compelled  to  sue  for  peace.  The  Danes 
willingly  consented  to  his  proposal;  there  were  other  princes 
to  vanquish,  other  territories  to  conquer,  less  valiantly  defend 
ed  than  Wessex,  on  which  they  proposed  to  revenge  them 
selves  when  it  should  stand  alone  in  its  resistance  to  them. 
In  875  they  had  finished  their  conquest.  Wessex  alone  still 
preserved  its  independence,  and  three  Danish  kings,  who  had 
passed  the  winter  at  Cambridge,  embarked  secretly,  by  night, 
to  attack  the  coast  of  Dorset.  Vainly  did  Alfred  strive  to 
resist  his  enemies  by  sea  ;  his  ships  were  beaten,  and  soon 
the  long  line  of  incendiarism  and  murder  which  always  marked 
the  progress  of  the  Danes  extended  as  far  as  Wareham.  This 
was  past  endurance,  and  Alfred,  stricken  down  on  a  sick-bed, 
asked  for  and  obtained  peace  at  the  price  of  gold.  The  Danes 
retired  after  having  sworn  friendship  upon  some  relics  brought 
by  the  Christian  king,  and  on  their  sacred  bracelets  steeped 
in  the  blood  of  their  victims,  exchanging  hostages  whose  fate 
they  troubled  themselves  very  little  about.  The  very  night 
after  peace  was  concluded,  the  Saxon  horsemen  were  attacked 
and  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Danes,  who  took  possession  of  their 
horses  in  order  to  make  a  raid  into  the  interior  of  the  country. 
The  remonstrances  of  Alfred  were  powerless  to  stop  these  dis 
astrous  expeditions,  so  easy  for  an  enemy  who  threatened  the 
country  from  all  sides. 

Alfred  took  to  arms  once  more  ;  and  for  a  while  the  issue 
of  the  war  seemed  to  incline  in  his  favor ;  he  had  been  the 
first  to  see  the  necessity  for  attacking  the  Danes  on  the  ocean, 


CHAP.  III.]       THE    DANES.— ALFRED    THE    GREAT.  47 

which  was  incessantly  bringing  them  inexhaustible  reinforce 
ments,  and  his  vessels  having  met  the  pirates  during  a  storm 
had  defeated  and  dispersed  them,  thus  cutting  off  all  hope 
of  succor  to  the  Danes  whom  Alfred  was  besieging  in  Exeter. 
This  glimmering  of  success  did  not  last,  however  ;  in  878  the 
enemy  was  once  more  invading  Wessex  in  two  formidable 
troops  ;  one  of  them  was  stopped  and  even  defeated  by  some 
faithful  retainers  of  Alfred,  but  the  second  army,  which  had 
entered  the  kingdom  by  land,  was  advancing  without  oppo 
sition  from  town  to  town.  The  subjects  of  Alfred  were  weary 
and  discouraged.  The  king,  on  whom  they  had  founded  such 
great  hopes,  had  lost  in  their  eyes  his  prestige ;  brave  but 
uncertain,  he  had  not  profited  by  the  advantages  which  his 
military  genius  had  sometimes  given  him,  and  his  people  com 
plained  of  his  inflexibility,  of  his  pride,  of  the  severity  which 
he  manifested  towards  offenders,  of  the  indifference  which 
he  displayed  towards  the  unfortunate.  They  did  not  enter 
with  any  spirit  into  the  struggle  against  the  invaders,  and  the 
Saxon  kings  held  no  power  but  by  the  free  will  of  their  sub 
jects.  The  clergy,  who  were  especially  hated  by  the  pagan 
enemy,  fled  to  France,  carrying  with  them  from  their  country 
its  relics  and  the  treasures  from  the  churches.  The  agricul 
tural  population  submitted  to  cultivate  the  land  for  the  Danes. 
The  latter  were  seeking  Alfred  ;  but  the  king  had  suddenly 
abandoned  the  cause,  and  in  his  turn  weary  of  the  struggle, 
sick  and  wounded  to  the  heart  by  the  defection  of  his  sub 
jects,  he  had  disappeared,  and  no  man  knew  or  could  guess 
the  place  of  his  retreat. 

The  fugitive  king  no  longer  knew  whither  he  went.  From 
forest  to  forest,  from  cave  to  cave,  he  proceeded  on  his  way, 
trying  to  conceal  his  deep  disgrace,  learning  in  his  cruel 
wanderings,  as  his  historian  and  friend  Asser  says,  "  that 
there  is  one  Lord  alone,  Master  of  all  things  and  all  men, 


48  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  III. 

before  whom  every  knee  bends,  who  holds  in  His  hand  the 
hearts  of  kings,  and  who  sometimes  makes  His  happy  servants 
feel  the  lash  of  adversity,  to  teach  them,  when  they  suffer, 
not  to  despair  of  the  Divine  mercy,  and  to  be  without  pride 
when  they  prosper." 

Alfred  wanted  confidence  in  God,  when  he  arrived  in  the 
Island  of  the  Nobles  (Ethelingaia),  now  called  Athelney, 
in  order  to  hide  himself  there  in  the  hovel  of  a  cowherd, 
who  received  him  at  first  as  a  traveller  who  had  lost  his  way, 
and  ended  by  learning  in  confidence  from  his  guest  that  he 
was  a  Saxon  noble  of  the  court  of  King  Alfred,  flying  from 
the  vengeance  of  the  Danes.  -The  worthy  Ulfoath  was  per 
fectly  satisfied  with  the  explanation,  and  allowed  the  fugitive 
to  remain  at  his  house. 

His  wife  was  not  in  the  secret,  and  was  annoyed,  no  doubt, 
to  see  her  work  increased  by  the  presence  of  this  unknown 
guest.  She  would  ask  him  at  times  to  perform  little  services, 
and  would  leave  him  in  charge  of  some  household  duties. 
One  Sunday,  while,  the  husband  was  gone  to  lead  the  beasts 
to  the  field,  and  the  wife  was  busy  with  several  little  mat 
ters,  she  had  left  some  loaves  or  thin  cakes  by  the  fire,  which 
were  baking  slowly  on  the  red  stone  of  the  hearth.  Alfred 
had  been  commissioned  to  watch  them,  but,  absorbed  in  his 
sad  meditations,  he  had  forgotten  that  the  bread  was  burning ; 
the  smell  warned  the  housewife  ;  she  sprang  at  a  bound  to 
the  fireplace,  and  quickly  turning  her  cakes,  she  called  out 
angrily  to  the  king,  "  Whoever  you  may  be,  are  you  too  proud 
to  turn  the  loaves  ?  You  will  not  take  the  slightest  heed  of 
them,  but  you  will  be  very  glad  to  eat  some  of  them  pres 
ently."  Alfred  did  not  lose  his  temper ;  he  laughed,  and 
helped  the  woman  to -finish  her  task.  A  few  days  later  the 
cowherd's  wife  learned  with  dismay  the  name  of  the  guest 
whom  she  had  thus  scolded. 


ALFRED   THE   GREAT   WATCHING   THE   PEASANT'S   LOAVES. 


CHAP.  III.]       THE   DANES.  —  ALFRED    THE   GREAT.  49 

Some  of  the  faithful  subjects  of  Alfred,  pursued  by  the 
Danes,  took  refuge  also  in  the  Island  of  Nobles,  where  they 
discovered,  to  their  great  astonishment,  their  king.  Secretly 
and  by  degrees  the  rumor  that  Alfred  was  living  spread 
through  his  family,  who  came  in  search  of  him.  The  little 
band  became  greater  day  by  day,  and  the  king  was  begin 
ning  to  gain  courage.  In  his  solitude  and  humiliation,  God 
had  taken  charge  of  this  great  soul  which  had  hitherto  for 
gotten  Him,  and  which  regained  through  religious  faith  the 
necessary  energy  to  struggle  against  the  enemies  of  his 
country. 

The  Danes  had  not  profited  by  their  victory.  They  had 
established  themselves  in  the  conquered  country  as  plunder 
ers,  and  not  as  owners.  The  inhabitants  of  Wessex  were 
writhing  under  their  cruel  and  capricious  rule.  They  had  now 
forgotten  the  rigorous  acts  with  which  they  had  reproached 
Alfred,  and  regretted  that  the  Christian  king  was  no  longer 
at  their  head.  Exasperated  by  their  sufferings,  the  Saxons 
were  ripe  for  revolt. 

Such  were  Alfred's  prospects  when  he  began  with  his  com 
panions  the  work  of  re-establishing  himself  in  his  country. 
A  solid  bridge,  defended  by  two  towers,  enabled  the  king 
to  issue  out  easily  from  his  retreat  in  his  fortress.  He 
gathered  around  him  all  the  malcontents  before  making  any 
body  aware  of  his  identity,  and  without  announcing  his  great 
projects ;  each  day  he  saw  his  little  army  swell  in  numbers, 
and  he  defeated  the  Danes  in  every  skirmish  which  he  chanced 
to  have  with  them.  He  then  went  back  to  the  Island  of 
Nobles.  It  is  even  said  that  he  went  by  day,  disguised  as  a 
minstrel,  into  the  very  camp  of  the  Danes,  in  order  to  ascer 
tain  their  numerical  strength.  In  the  month  of  May*  878, 
he  finally  decided  to  attack  them  openly.  Secret  messengers 
were  dispatched  through  the  neighborhood,  who  said  to  the 

VOL.  I.  7 


50  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IIL 

Saxons :  "  King  Alfred  is  alive.  Assemble  in  the  forest  of 
Selwood,  at  Egbert's  field;  he  will  be  there,  and  you  shall 
all  march  together  against  the  Danes."  The  Saxons,  des 
perate,  were  rushing  there  in  crowds,  and  soon  Alfred's 
standard,  bearing  the  golden  dragon,  was  boldly  unfurled 
before  the  Danish  raven. 

The  secret  had  been  well  kept.  The  Danish  king,  Godrun, 
was  vaguely  aware  that  a  number  of  Saxons  were  assembled 
in  the  neighborhood ;  but  he  knew  neither  how  many  they 
mustered,  nor  the  name  of  their  chief,  when  he  found  himself 
suddenly  attacked  on  the  plain  of  Ethandune.  The  Saxons 
were  in  high  spirits.  "  It  is  for  your  own  sakes  that  you  are 
about  to  fight,"  Alfred  had  said  to  them.  "Show  that  you 
are  men,  and  deliver  your  country  from  the  hands  of  these 
strangers."  The  Danes  had  not  had  time  to  recover  from 
their  surprise  before  Alfred  was  upon  them,  his  whole  army 
following  him.  The  standard-bearer  was  pushing  to  the  front, 
accomplishing  prodigies  of  valor.  "  It  is  St.  Neots  himself," 
Alfred  cried,  designating  a  saint  held  in  great  reverence  by 
the  Saxons,  and  an  ancestor  of  his  own.  His  soldiers  gained 
fresh  courage  at  these  words  ;  the  Danes  were  beaten  and  pur 
sued,  and  they  perished  in  great  numbers.  King  Godrun,  shut 
up  with  his  court  at  the  fortress  of  Chippenham,  was  compelled 
to  surrender  after  a  siege  which  lasted  three  weeks.  He  gave 
hostages,  without  taking  any  in  exchange,  a  proceeding  very 
humiliating  to  the  Danes  ;  and  Alfred  wisely  imposed  upon 
him  an  agreement  useful  in  securing  the  definitive  tranquil 
lity  of  England,  if  not  consistent  with  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  the  Danes :  the  conqueror  exacted  that  the  defeated  enemy 
should  embrace  the  Christian  religion.  Godrun  and  his  son 
were  baptized,  and  settled  in  the  portion  of  land  which  Alfred 
conceded  to  them.  Finding  the  impossibility  of  driving  from 
the  country  the  whole  of  the  Danes,  who  were  already  mas- 


CHAP.  III.]       THE   DANES.  —  ALFRED    THE    GREAT.  51 

ters  of  the  land  in  Northumbria,  in  Mercia,  and  in  East 
Anglia,  Alfred  hoped  to  accomplish,  by  the  aid  of  Christianity 
and  his  right  over  part  of  the  land,  a  fusion  of  the  Danish 
and  Saxon  races,  and  to  secure  by  that  union  a  kind  of  ram 
part  against  any  new  Scandinavian  invasions. 

He  was  not  mistaken.  In  the  year  following,  a  Danish 
fleet  entered  the  Thames  ;  but  in  vain  did  the  warriors  call 
for  help  to  Godrun,  who  was  established  in  the  country.  He 
remained  deaf  to  their  voices;  and  they,  discouraged  by  his 
refusal,  went  away  again,  and  pursued  their  ravages  on  the 
coast  of  Flanders. 

For  more  than  thirteen  years  peace  reigned  over  all  Eng 
land.  One  or  two  little  isolated  invasions  served  to  exercise 
the  energy  of  Alfred's  troops,  and  each  day  his  forces  were 
augmenting.  But  Godrun  was  dead,  and  a  dangerous  enemy 
now  threatened  the  Saxon  king.  The  famous  pirate  Hastings, 
already  advanced  in  age,  but  still  passionately  fond  of  the 
"game  of  war,"  was  encamped  upon  the  coast  of  France,  at 
Boulogne,  in  892.  Wherever  he  appeared,  death  and  ruin 
followed  in  his  wake.  The  black  raven  always  unfurled  its 
wings  for  him ;  he  was  always  assured  of  victory  before  the 
fray  began.  He  sailed  forth  in  the  spring  of  893,  and  instead 
of  descending  upon  the  lands  already  held  by  the  Danes, 
he  disembarked  in  Kent,  a  country  rich  and  fertile,  inhabited 
entirely  by  Saxons;  and,  dividing  his  army  into  two  corps, 
he  lay  awaiting  Alfred,  who  was  advancing  in  haste  to  resist 
him. 

The  Danish  pirate  had  cleverly  organized  the  attack.  Al 
ready  the  Danish  population  of  East  Anglia  were  profiting  by 
his  presence  to  attack  the  Saxon  towns ;  but  Alfred  had 
studied  too  well  the  art  of  war  to  disperse  his  army  over  the 
country;  he  led  the  whole  of  his  available  force  against  Has 
tings.  There  the  greater  portion  of  the  enemy's  army,  pro- 


52  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  JII. 

tected  by  a  forest  and  a  river,  were  met  by  the  Saxon  king, 
who  sent  out  at  the  same  time  several  small  bodies  of  men 
in  pursuit  of  the  Danish  warriors  who  were  pillaging  the 
country,  staying  by  these  means  the  progress  of  the  invasion, 
and  opposing  with  exemplary  patience  the  ruses  of  the  bar 
barians.  Hastings  appeared  to  grow  weary  of  this :  he  asked 
for  peace,  and  sent  his  young  sons  as  hostages.  Alfred  had 
just  returned  them  to  him  after  having  baptized  them,  when 
the  Danes,  caring  little  for  their  plighted  word,  began  to 
march  towards  Essex,  which  they  intended  to  attack,  passing 
by  way  of  the  Thames.  The  king  hastened  at  once  in  pursuit 
of  them  and  to  the  support  of  his  eldest  son,  Edward,  who 
was  defending  the  frontier.  They  joined  their  forces ;  a  great 
battle  was  fought  near  Farnham,  in  the  county  of  Surrey; 
the  Danes  were  vanquished  and  driven  as  far  as  the  Isle  of 
Mersey,  which  they  fortified  for  their  defence.  The  king 
attacked  them  at  once  ;  but  while  he  had  been  away  recruit 
ing  his  forces,  a  Danish  fleet  threatened  the  coast  of  Devon 
shire.  Alfred  marched  against  the  new  invaders,  while  the 
forces  which  he  left  behind  fought  against  Hastings,  and  in 
a  sortie  got  possession  of  the  wife  and  children  of  that  chief. 
These  were  sent  to  Alfred ;  but  the  Christian  warrior  could 
not  forget  that  he  had  presented  the  young  barbarians  at  the 
baptismal  font,  and  sent  them  back  to  their  father  loaded 
with  presents. 

The  pirate,  however,  was  not  overcome  by  his  foe's  gener 
osity.  He  attacked  Mercia,  sustained  by  the  Danish  hordes 
established  in  the  country.  Abandoning  all  thought  of  the 
conquests  which  he  had  originally  intended,  and  the  kingdom 
which  he  had  wished  to  found,  he  once  more  took  up  the 
irregular  invasions  by  which  he  had  acquired  so  much  wealth, 
and  thought  only  of  plundering  the  Saxon  territory.  But 
the  subjects  of  Alfred  had  learned  some  useful  lessons;  they 


CHAP.  III.]       THE   DANES.  —  ALFRED   THE   GREAT.  53 

rose  with  one  accord  against  the  foreign  enemy,  and  when 
the  king,  returning  in  haste  from  Devonshire,  arrived  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Severn,  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
numerous  army,  which  allowed  him  to  completely  surround 
the  trenches  of  Hastings.  The  Danes  had  been  decimated  by 
hunger :  they  had  even  eaten  their  horses.  Making  a  last 
desperate  effort,  they  opened  up  a  passage  straight  through 
the  ranks  of  their  enemies,  and  took  refuge  in  Chester,  where 
they  spent  the  winter. 

In  the  spring-time,  the  long  vessels,  the  "  water-serpents," 
as  the  pirates  would  affectionately  call  them,  invariably  brought 
reinforcements  to  them.  In  895,  Hastings  began  by  attacking 
Wales,  finding  the  states  of  King  Alfred  too  well  defended. 
He  ended,  however,  by  retreating  to  the  Isle  of  Mersey,  from 
whence  he  set  out  in  896  to  establish  himself  on  the  river 
Lea,  in  the  north  of  London.  He  had  raised  a  fortress  and 
there  defended  himself  valiantly,  when  King  Alfred  perceived 
that  he  could  stop  all  the  enemy's  navigation  by  river.  He 
accordingly  constructed  a  canal,  and  reduced  the  Danes  to 
despair:  their  fleet  was  on  dry  ground.  They  abandoned  it, 
and  marched  in  a  northern  direction.  This  time  the  old  pirate 
was  beaten.  Wearied  by  this  struggle  against  a  man  of  energy 
equal  to  his  own,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  youth  and 
vigor  which  he  no  longer  possessed,  he  assembled  his  vessels 
in  the  spring  of  89T,  and  leaving  definitively  the  English  coast, 
he  ascended  the  Seine  and  extorted  from  Charles  the  Simple 
a  donation  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Chartres.  He  established 
himself  there ;  and  Hollo  found  him  there  fifteen  years  later, 
spending  in  peace  the  remainder  of  his  stormy  life. 

The  Danes  who  remained  in  England  had  reacquired  a 
taste  for  adventurous  expeditions.  They  assembled  along  the 
coast  of  Northumberland  to  organize  an  attack  on  the  south 
ern  portion  of  the  kingdom;  but  Alfred  had  long  resolved 


54  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  III. 

to  fight  his  enemies  with  their  own  weapons.  Having  ridded 
himself  of  Hastings,  he  had  had  time  to  look  to  his  navy, 
and  the  Danes  found  themselves  opposed  by  vessels  larger 
and  more  rapid  than  their  own.  The  struggle  began  on  all 
sides.  Wherever  the  pirates  advanced  to  the  attack,  they 
found  Saxon  vessels  to  check  them.  The  contests  were  of 
frequent  occurrence  ;  they  were  not  invariably  favorable  to  the 
Saxons,  but  the  Danes  suffered  great  losses :  their  ships  would 
often  founder  on  the  coast,  and  the  cargo  would  be  lost.  In 
897,  the  last  Danish  ships  disappeared  from  England.  Alfred 
had  now  only  to  heal  his  country  of  the  wounds  left  on  it 
after  all  its  struggles,  which  had  cemented  the  union  of  the 
several  kingdoms,  in  calling  them  all  to  the  common  defence 
under  a  single  chief  placed  above  them  by  reason  of  his 
conspicuous  ability.  After  the  war  with  the  Danes,  Alfred, 
who  had  merely  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  Wessex,  had 
added  to  his  states  Mercia,  Wales,  and  Kent. 

It  was  a  kingdom  composed  of  incongruous  elements ;  but 
Alfred  understood  the  management  of  them  by  reason  of  his 
far-seeing  wisdom.  In  Mercia,  originally  peopled  by  the  Eng 
lish,  he  established  a  viceroy  chosen  from  their  royal  family, 
the  Ealderman,  or  Duke  Ethelred,  and  gave  him  his  own 
daughter  in  marriage.  When  Ethelred  died,  after  having 
faithfully  served  his  father-in-law,  the  Mercians  themselves 
placed  in  the  hands  of  his  widow  Ethelfleda  the  reins  of 
government. 

Kent  already  belonged  to  Alfred.  Its  unhappy  inhabitants, 
subject  more  than  any  others  to  the  Danish  invasions,  had 
displayed  the  most  passionate  affection  and  gratitude  towards 
the  prince  who  had  effected  their  deliverance.  The  Welsh 
chiefs  swore  allegiance  to  him.  Alfred  established  one  of 
them,  Amorant,  as  viceroy  of  Wales,  leaving  him  thus  all 
his  prerogatives  and  full  command  over  his  subjects. 


CHAP.  III.]       THE   DANES.  —  ALFRED   THE   GREAT.  55 

While  he  was  thus  organizing  his  Saxon  kingdom,  Alfred 
was  maintaining  firm  and  friendly  relations  with  the  Danish 
kingdom,  which  he  had  allowed  to  be  established  near  to  his 
own.  The  propagation  of  Christianity  amongst  the  pagans 
was  his  principal  means  of  effecting  the  fusion  of  the  races, 
which  he  foresaw,  and  which  he  hoped  ardently  to  see  ac 
complished,  but  which  he  could  not  completely  finish  during 
his  own  lifetime.  Some  laws  were  already  in  force  and 
respected  by  both  races  :  the  crime  of  murder  was  punished 
in  the  same  manner  in  each  state,  and  Alfred  caused  the 
people  to  rigorously  respect  the  treaties  which  bound  them 
together,  the  pirates  of  East  Anglia,  who  came  to  pursue 
their  ravages  along  the  coasts,  being  hanged  without  mercy. 
The  Danes  established  in  England  had  already  become  Eng 
lishmen  in  the  eyes  of  Alfred,  and  were  compelled  to  observe 
the  laws  of  the  English  population. 

But,  although  thus  providing  for  the  future,  Alfred  felt 
completely  safe  for  the  present.  The  Saxon  kings  had  never 
maintained  a  standing  army.  At  the  time  of  an  invasion, 
when  the  necessity  for  defending  himself  or  attacking  was 
felt  by  the  sovereign,  he  would  send  into  the  boroughs  and 
through  the  country  a  messenger  carrying  his  sword,  un 
sheathed,  who  would  cry  aloud :  "  Whoever  shall  not  wish 
to  be  held  a  worthless  fellow,  let  him  leave  his  house  and 
come  and  join  in  the  expedition."  But  the  day  after  the 
battle  the  warriors  would  disperse,  and  if  the  enemy  should 
recommence  hostilities,  the  king  and  the  country  found  them 
selves  unprepared.  Alfred  divided  into  two  great  divisions 
all  his  subjects  capable  of  bearing  arms :  one  was  always 
on  a  war  footing,  ready  to  march  against  the  enemy ;  the 
other  portion  of  them  would  work  in  the  fields  and  culti 
vate  the  soil  until  the  very  day  when  they  would  be  called 
out  to  follow  the  golden  dragon,  while  their  companions  would 


56  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  III. 

disperse  and  quietly  retire  to  their  cottages.  The  king  made 
use  of  these  soldiers  in  fortifying  towns,  in  constructing  cita 
dels,  and  in  putting  the  whole  country  in  a  position  to  defend 
itself.  It  was  thus  that  he  was  able  to  withstand  the  attacks 
of  Hastings,  the  most  severe  which  England  had  as  yet  en 
countered. 

So  much  wisdom  and  foresight  on  the  part  of  Alfred  natu 
rally  increased  his  regal  importance  and  authority.  Until  this 
time,  the  Saxon  kings  had  been  essentially  warriors  ;  each 
"  ealderman,"  or  chief  proprietor,  ruled  supreme  in  his  own 
district,  without  troubling  his  sovereign ;  the  clergy  were 
nearly  upon  an  equality  with  the  king,  and  the  offences  com 
mitted  against  a  bishop  were  punished  with  the  same  penal 
ties  as  those  committed  against  the  king  himself.  Alfred 
re-established  the  royal  supremacy  by  the  force  of  his  own 
intellectual  superiority ;  his  ealdermen  became  his  officers ;  and 
his  profound  piety,  as  well  as  his  respect  for  the  clergy,  did 
not  prevent  his  disengaging  himself  from  any  servile  sub 
mission  to  the  Church.  The  priests  had  suffered  and  trem 
bled  more  than  any  other  class  under  the  rule  of  the  pagan 
Danes  ;  they  obeyed  without  a  murmur  the  orders  of  their 
liberator. 

Justice  was  but  badly  administered  in  England,  divided 
though  it  had  been  for  a  long  time  into  ty things,  hundredths, 
and  counties,  and  provided  with  local  assemblies  which  cor 
responded  to  these  territorial  denominations.  During  the  trou 
bles  which  the  Danish  invasion  had  caused,  and  in  the  miseries 
which  had  followed,  the  Saxon  proprietors  had  ceased  to 
attend  to  their  internal  affairs ;  they  neglected  to  select  the 
judges.  The  assessors,  or  free  men,  who  should  be  present 
on  the  occasion  of  any  trial,  to  help  the  judge  with  their 
advice,  no  longer  answered  when  called  upon  to  do  so;  only 
small  numbers  of  witnesses  would  appear.  The  king  under- 


CHAP.  IH.]      THE  DANES.  — ALFRED   THE   GREAT.  57 

took  to  re-establish  order;  he  himself  nominated  the  judges, 
and  punished  them  severely  when  they  ventured  to  give  any 
decision  in  a  case  without  previously  consulting  the  assessors, 
whom  he  re-established  in  their  original  form  —  the  germ  of 
the  institution  now  known  as  the  jury.  He  was  not  even 
satisfied  with  all  these  cares ;  it  often  happened  that  he 
would  revise  the  sentences  of  the  judges,  so  zealously  did  he 
occupy  himself  with  the  administration  of  justice  in  his 
kingdom. 

The  judges  hitherto  had  been  charged  with  the  civil  admin 
istration  as  well  as  that  of  justice ;  they  were  succumbing 
under  the  weight  of  such  onerous  functions.  Alfred  relieved  ^.^V 
them,  however,  by  nominating  dukes,  earls,  and  viscounts, 
who  were  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  justice  in  the 
counties,  the  tithings,  and  hundreds.  He  himself  compiled 
for  these  magistrates  a  code  of  laws  borrowed,  some  from  the 
old  mode  of  legislation  in  Kent,  Wessex,  and  Mercia,  and 
others  from  the  Bible,  from  the  books  of  Moses  as  well  as 
from  the  New  Testament;  and  they  all  unmistakably  bore 
the  imprint  of,  and  were  modified  by,  the  real  Christian  spirit 
which  animated  the  king. 

All  these  laws,  the  fruits  of  revealed  wisdom  or  of  the 
ancient  experience  of  the  people,  Alfred  submitted  for  approval 
to  his  subjects.  "  I  have  shown  these  laws  to  my  wise  men," 
said  he,  in  the  preamble  at  the  beginning  of  his  code,  "  and 
the  result  was  that  they  were  unanimous  in  wishing  that 
they  should  be  observed."  These  wise  men,  or  "  witans," 
forming  an  assembly  called  a  "  Witenagemote  "  (an  assembly 
of  wise  men),  no  longer  represented,  under  Alfred,  the  entire 
nation,  as  in  the  time  when  the  Saxons  still  preserved  in 
their  simplicity  their  Germanic  institutions.  At  that  period 
all  the  free  men  (cearls),  whether  proprietors  or  not,  com 
posed  part  of  it.  By  degrees  the  free  men  disappeared  from 

VOL.   I.  8 


58  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  III. 

it,  and  the  "  thaues,"  or  proprietors,  alone  remained ;  but  the 
lower  class  of  "  thanes,"  although  invested  with  the  same 
rights  as  the  royal  "  thanes,"  were  less  wealthy ;  it  was  more 
difficult  for  them  to  leave  their  affairs  in  order  to  repair  to 
the  Witenagemote.  In  the  time  of  Alfred,  these  great  pro 
prietors  alone  made  up  this  assembly  of  wise  men,  whose 
functions  were  as  vaguely  defined  as  the  number  and  the 
periods  of  their  meetings  were  uncertain,  but  who  thenceforth 
maintained  in  England  the  principle  of  a  national  representa 
tive  assembly,  or  the  institution  whereby  the  country  under 
takes  its  own  government,  which  is  the  foundation  and  key 
of  English  history. 

While  Alfred  was  drawing  up  laws  of  an  equitable  and 
merciful  character,  while  he  was  rebuilding  the  ruined  con 
vents  and  churches,  and  erecting  new  ones,  he  did  not  forget 
the  poorest  and  most  unhappy  of  his  subjects.  Slaves  were 
numerous  in  England,  and  suffering  under  a  heavy  yoke.  The 
king  provided  for  their  protection,  granting  to  them  the  right 
of  enjoying  and  transmitting  to  their  heirs  whatever  goods 
they  might  have  acquired ;  he  even  applied  in  favor  of  Chris 
tian  slaves  the  Biblical  law,  granting  to  them  their  freedom 
at  the  end  of  six  years  of  servitude.  In  his  will  he  ordered 
that  all  the  serfs  on  his  entire  domain  should  be  emancipated. 
His  example  was  followed:  the  serfs  and  the  emancipated 
slaves  became  day  by  day  more  numerous,  and  began  thence 
forth  to  form  in  England  the  lower  middle  class,  which  did 
not  yet  exist  anywhere  upon  the  Continent. 

So  many  efforts  and  so  much  foresight  must  necessarily 
have  proceeded  from  a  great  and  enlightened  mind.  Alfred 
had  neglected  nothing  that  might  add  to  his  stock  of  knowl 
edge.  He  had  not  studied  during  his  childhood,  in  spite  of 
his  ardent  desire  to  acquire  knowledge,  for  there  were  no 
intellectual  resources  at  the  court  of  King  Ethelwulf.  The 


CHAP.  III.]       THE  DANES. -— ALFRED    THE    GREAT.  59 

ancient  kind  of  erudition  which  had  already  been  remarkable 
in  England,  where  the  means  of  study,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  eighth  century,  were  far  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind 
which  could  be  found  upon  the  Continent,  had  become  extinct 
during  the  wars  with  the  Danes.  "  When  I  began  to  reign,'* 
wrote  Alfred  the  Great,  in  the  preface  to  his  translation 
of  the  Pastoral  of  Gregory  I.,  "  very  few  people  on  this  side 
of  the  Humber  could  say  their  daily  prayers  in  English,  or 
could  explain  in  English  a  Latin  epistle,  and  I  suspect  that 
there  was  not  a  greater  number  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Humber."  It  was  thus  that,  notwithstanding  his  eagerness  to 
instruct  himself,  Alfred  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  thirty-five 
years  without  understanding  Latin,  and  he  only  began  the 
study  of  it  in  884,  after  having  made  prodigious  efforts  to  se 
cure  masters  who  were  to  instruct  himself  and  his  people.  In 
the  way  of  embassies,  presents,  negotiations,  he  spared  no  trou 
ble  in  order  to  attract  John,  the  old  Saxon  of  the  monastery 
of  Corbie  ;  Grimbald,  monk  at  Saint-Omer  ;  and  Plecmund,  a 
learned  Mercian,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  a  solitary  island  of 
the  county  of  Chester  during  the  Danish  wars,  and  whom  he 
made  archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  finally,  he  invited  the  monk 
Asser,  living  at  the  extremity  of  Wales,  in  the  convent  of 
St.  David,  whom  he  soon  secured,  not  only  as  a  master,  but 
as  a  friend.  It  is  to  Asser  that  we  owe  a  biography  of  Alfred, 
so  minute  in  its  details  that  it  proves  beyond  question  the 
great  intimacy  which  existed  between  the  monarch  and  the 
historian. 

Alfred  was  looking  about  in  all  parts  for  learned  men, 
and  was  studying  Latin  like  a  schoolboy  ;  but  he  understood 
that  the  period  of  purely  classical  education  had  passed  away. 
His  childish  taste  for  Saxon  poetry  had  not  been  obliterated, 
and  his  reverence  for  his  native  tongue  stimulated  him  to 
spread  education  among  those  of  his  subjects  who  were  not 


60  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  III. 

in  a  position  to  devote  themselves  to  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages.  "  It  has  appeared  to  me  very  useful,"  he  wrote 
to  Bishop  Wulfsege,  "to  choose  a  certain  number  of  books, 
those  which  it  is  most  important  to  render  easily  accessible 
to  all,  and  to  translate  them  into  the  language  which  we 
all  understand.  We  shall  thus  easily  insure,  with  God's  help, 
and  if  peace  continues,  that  all  the  youth  of  this  nation,  and 
particularly  the  young  men  of  rich  and  free  families,  shall 
apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  letters,  and  shall  not  sacrifice 
their  time  in  any  other  exercise  than  that  of  learning  the 
Anglo-Saxon  writers.  The  masters  shall  then  teach  the  Latin 
language  to  those  who  shall  wish  to  know  more,  and  to 
attain  a  higher  standard  of  instruction.  After  having  re 
flected  upon  the  nature  of  this  instruction,  I  have  chosen 
the  book  which  is  called  in  Latin  Pastor alis,  and  which  we 
call  The  Book  of  the  Pastor.  The  learned  men  whom  I  have 
around  me  explained  it  to  me,  and  when  I  fully  arrived 
at  the  precise  meaning  of  it,  I  translated  it  into  Anglo- 
Saxon,  sometimes  literally,  sometimes  taking  only  the  thoughts, 
and  writing  them  in  the  manner  which  appeared  best  in  order 
to  make  them  easily  comprehensible,  and  I  have  sent  a  copy 
of  the  work  to  each  bishop  in  the  kingdom." 

After  having  begun  this  great  work  of  clothing  in  a  scarcely 
formed  language  the  beauties  of  classical  literature,  Alfred  did 
not  remain  idle.  Impossible  labors  have  been  attributed  to 
him  ;  a  translation  of  the  entire  Bible  ;  the  revision  of  a  por 
tion  of  The  Saxon  Chronicles,  &c.  It  is  positively  known, 
however,  that  he  translated,  besides  The  Pastor,  long  fragments 
of  The  Soliloquies  of  St.  Augustine,  which  he  called  Culled 
Flowers ;  The  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Bede ;  the  historian 
Orosius ;  and  the  book  of  Boethius  on  The  Consolation  of  Phi 
losophy.  There  even  exist  of  his,  some  poems,  translations 
or  rather  imitations  of  the  verses  which  Boethius  had  scat- 


ALFRED'S   DEVICE   FOR   RECKONING  TIME. 


ALFREU   PROMISED   THE   MANUSCRIPT   BY   HIS   MOTHER. 


CHAP.  III.]       THE    DANES.— ALFRED    THE    GREAT.  61 

tered  throughout  his  book,  and  which  Alfred  often  altered 
to  suit  his  own  taste  and  the  tastes  of  the  race  of  men  for 
whom  he  was  writing. 

How  can  such  great  tasks,  which  would  have  sufficed  to 
fill  up  the  lifetime  of  an  author,  have  been  accomplished  during 
that  of  a  king  whose  reign  was  partly  taken  up  by  his  wars 
against  the  Danes?  The  good  order  which  prevailed  in  all 
the  undertakings  of  Alfred  can  alone  answer  this  problem. 
Subject  to  violent  attacks  of  sickness,  loaded  with  work  and 
with  cares,  he  had  divided  his  time  into  three  parts  :  the 
first  belonged  to  his  regal  duties;  the  second  to  his  religion, 
to  prayer  and  study;  the  third  was  devoted  to  his  repasts, 
to  sleep,  and  to  bodily  exercise  ;  but  the  portion  allotted  to 
sleep  was  very  short.  The  king  was  often  awake  during  a 
great  portion  of  the  night,  and  having  neither  a  clock,  nor  a 
sand  time-measurer,  he  was  struck  with  the  idea  of  having 
some  tapers  or  candles  made,  which  should  burn  for  a  certain 
time,  and  by  means  of  which  he  should  be  enabled  to  count 
the  hours.  Unluckily,  however,  a  gust  of  wind  would  some 
times  penetrate  into  the  royal  tent  and  make  the  candles  burn 
too  rapidly,  and  then  the  king  would  suddenly  lose  all  means 
of  reckoning  the  time,  until  the  sun  came  to  give  him  its 
infallible  direction. 

His  strength  was  quickly  consumed  in  this  struggle  against 
human  weakness.  When  scarcely  fifty-two  years  of  age, 
Alfred  was  dying.  He  sent  for  his  son  Edward.  "  Come 
and  stand  beside  me,"  he  said ;  "  I  feel  that  my  last  moment 
is  near ;  we  must  part.  I  am  going  to  another  world,  and 
you  will  be  alone  with  all  my  riches.  I  beg  you,  for  you 
are  my  beloved  child,  strive  to  be  a  good  master  and  a  father 
to  your  people.  Relieve  the  poor,  support  the  weak,  and 
apply  yourself  with  all  your  might  to  the  redress  of  wrongs. 
And  then,  my  son,  govern  yourself  according  to  your  own 


62  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  III. 

laws ;  then  the  Lord  will  help  you  and  will  grant  you  His 
supreme  reward.  Invoke  Him  that  He  may  advise  and  direct 
you  in  your  difficulties,  and  He  will  help  jou  to  accomplish 
as  well  as  possible  your  designs."  It  was  in  the  same  manner 
that,  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  when  dying  upon 
the  shore  at  Tunis,  St.  Louis  recommended  his  son  to  France. 
Great  kings  and  great  Christians  both,  although  very  different 
in  character  and  ideas,  Alfred  and  St.  Louis  both  deserved 
the  name  of  "  pastors  "  of  their  people,  which  the  gratitude 
of  Englishmen  has  accorded  to  Alfred. 

He  died  on  the  20th  of  October,  901,  after  having  reigned 
twenty-nine  years,  and  he  was  interred  at  Winchester,  in  the 
monastery  which  he  had  founded  there.  It  is  not  there,  but 
at  "Wantage,  —  at  the  spot  where  he  was  born,  —  that  the 
grateful  memory  of  England  caused  the  celebration  of  the 
jubilee  on  the  occasion  of  the  thousandth  anniversary  of  the 
birthday  of  Alfred  the  Great.  On  the  25th  of  October,  1849, 
a  vast  concourse  of  people  went  to  Wantage  to  do  honor  to 
the  memory  of  a  king  so  much  beloved.  The  assemblage  de 
cided  on  the  publication  of  his  complete  works,  a  monument 
less  durable  than  the  gratitude  graven  by  his  deeds  on  the 
heart  of  his  people. 


CHAP.  IV.]      THE   SAXON    AND    DANISH   KINGS.  63 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    SAXON  AND    DANISH   KINGS.  — THE    CONQUEST   OF 
ENGLAND    BY    THE   NORMANS.      901-1066. 

ONE  hundred  and  sixty-five  years  elapsed  between  the 
death  of  Alfred  and  the  invasion  of  England  by  Wil 
liam  the  Conqueror.  Two  dynasties  reigned  during  that 
period  in  England:  first,  the  Saxon,  which  numbered  ten 
sovereigns,  and  secondly  the  Danish,  which  was  represented 
by  four  princes.  The  first  of  the  Saxon  kings,  Edward,  the 
son  of  Alfred,  did  not  enjoy  a  very  brilliant  reign,  but  con 
trived  to  make  his  authority  recognized,  with  the  help  of  his 
sister  Ethelfleda,  widow  of  Ethelred,  the  viceroy  of  Mercia. 
He  drove  back  the  Danes  into  their  territory,  a  portion  of 
which  he  conquered,  and,  at  the  death  of  his  sister,  he  an 
nexed  Mercia  to  his  states,  which  he  left,  thus  augmented,  to 
his  son  Athelstan,  when  he  died,  in  925. 

This  young  prince  was  brave  as  well  as  able.  He  placed 
the  Welsh  tribes,  always  ripe  for  revolt,  under  subjection,  and 
imposed  upon  them  an  annual  tribute  of  gold,  silver,  and 
cattle  ;  he  repelled  the  people  of  Cornwall,  who  had  never 
been  thoroughly  subjected  by  Alfred.  But  the  Danes  had  not 
accepted  their  defeat.  King  Olaf,  who  was  established  in 
Northumbria,  and  who  had  recently  pushed  his  conquests  so 
far  in  Ireland  as  to  capture  the  town  of  Dublin,  ascended 
the  Humber  with  more  than  six  hundred  vessels  ;  the  Scots 
at  the  same  time  attacked  the  frontiers,  and  the  Britons  from 
Wales  once  more  revolted.  So  many  enemies  rising  suddenly 


64  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

did  not  daunt  Athelstan.  He  triumphed  over  his  opponents  : 
five  Danish  kings  remained  on  the  soil,  as  well  as  the  king 
of  Scotland's  son.  They  all  retired  into  their  territories, 
there  to  remain  until  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Athelstan,  whose 
court  attained  a  degree  of  luxury  hitherto  unknown  to  the 
Saxon  kings.  It  was  there  that  Louis  d'Outre-Mer  took  ref 
uge  when  driven  from  France ;  and  it  was  thence  that  he 
was  recalled  to  the  throne  at  the  death  of  Charles  the  Simple. 
All  England  recognized  the  laws  of  Athelstan,  and  he  had 
taken  the  title  of  King  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  instead  of  the 
less  assuming  one  of  King  of  Wessex,  when  he  died  in  940, 
at  the  age  of  forty-seven  years,  leaving  the  throne  to  his 
brother  Edmund.  The  reign  of  the  latter,  like  that  of  his 
brother  Edred,  presents  nothing  remarkable  with  the  exception 
of  a  series  of  battles  with  the  Danes,  who  were  sometimes 
daring  and  victorious,  and  sometimes  beaten  and  repulsed. 
At  the  death  of  Edred,  in  955,  the  Danes  of  Northumbria 
were  apparently  almost  entirely  subjected ;  their  chiefs  had 
lost  the  title  of  kings,  and  their  territory  was  governed  by 
an  earl  chosen  by  the  Saxons.  The  progress  had  been  great 
since  the  time  of  Alfred. 

Young  Edwy,  the  son  of  Edmund,  was  only  fifteen  years 
of  age  when  he  succeeded  to  the  throne.  The  Danes  left 
him  in  peace ;  but  he  commenced  a  struggle  against  the 
clergy  of  his  kingdom,  enemies  more  powerful  than  the  "  Sea- 
Kings."  He  had  married  Elgiva,  a  young  and  beautiful  prin 
cess  whose  family  was  related  to  his  own  within  the  degree  of 
kinship  prohibited  by  the  Church,  and  he  refused  to  abandon 
his  wife,  as  also  to  submit  to  be  reproved  by  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  Odo,  who  was  supported  by  the  famous  abbot 
of  Glastonbury,  Dunstan,  renowned  throughout  England  for 
his  austere  mode  of  living.  On  the  occasion  of  the  corona 
tion  of  the  young  king,  Dunstan,  being  annoyed,  retired  during 


CHAP.  IV.]      THE  SAXON  AND  DANISH  KINGS.  65 

the  banquet.  Edwy  flew  into  a  passion,  and  threats  were  so 
quickly  followed  by  action,  that  Dunstan  was  obliged  to  make 
his  escape,  and  was  immediately  pursued  by  the  emissaries  of 
the  king,  who  were  instructed  to  burn  out  his  eyes. 

Archbishop  Odo,  however,  had  remained  in  England  at  the 
head  of  the  austere  party  of  the  Church.  The  disagreement 
between  the  king  and  the  clergy  was  growing  more  and 
more  serious,  when  a  revolt  of  the  Danes  took  place  in  Nor- 
thumbria  and  extended  into  Mercia.  Soon  afterwards  Edgar, 
a  younger  brother  of  Edwy,  until  then  king  of  Mercia,  was 
declared  the  independent  sovereign  of  the  two  provinces. 
Family  afflictions  assailed  the  young  king  at  the  same  time  : 
his  wife  had  been  seized  in  one  of  his  castles  by  a  wandering 
band  of  soldiers,  and  carried  to  Ireland,  where  her  beautiful 
face  had  been  disfigured  by  red-hot  irons.  Dunstan  had  just 
reappeared  in  England  after  a  short  period  of  exile,  at  the 
time  when  the  young  queen,  who  had  been  tended  and  looked 
after  by  the  friends  whom  she  had  made  in  Ireland,  and  had 
now  recovered  from  the  effects  of  her  disfigurement,  was  re 
turning  to  England  to  rejoin  her  husband.  She  was  stopped, 
however,  near  Gloucester  by  her  implacable  enemies,  who  no 
doubt  credited  her  with  a  fatal  influence  over  her  husband. 
She  was  so  cruelly  mutilated  by  them  that  she  died  a  few 
days  afterwards.  Edwy  survived  her  but  a  short  time,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  nineteen  in  958.  The  beauty  of  his  per 
sonal  appearance  had  gained  him  the  title  of  Edwy  the 
Fair. 

When  Edgar  ascended  the  throne  of  his  brother  Edwy, 
Dunstan  shared  it  with  him;  and  whatever  may  have  been 
the  part  played  by  him  in  the  events  of  the  last  reign,  the 
authority  of  the  king  bore,  in  the  hands  of  the  monk,  the 
fruits  of  order  and  justice.  The  Danes,  attached  to  young 
Edgar,  who  had  been  brought  up  amongst  them,  submitted 

VOL.  I.  9 


66  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      L[CHAP.  IV. 

/ 

voluntarily  to  his  authority.  Their  territory  was  divided  and 
placed  under  the  rule  of  several  earls ;  the  fleet,  greatly  aug 
mented,  kept  the  "  Sea-Kings  "  in  constant  fear ;  and  the  young 
sovereign  of  England,  assisted  by  his  able  minister,  who  had 
become  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  traversed  his  state  every 
year,  presiding  at  courts  of  justice,  and  gathering  around  him 
the  principal  chiefs  of  each  province.  Ardent  and  ambitious, 
Dunstan  was  at  the  same  time  of  a  firm  disposition  and  char 
acter  ;  his  practical  knowledge  was  as  conspicuous  as  his  reli 
gious  zeal.  He  was  one  of  that  great  race  of  priests  whose 
influence,  pre-eminent  in  the  middle  ages,  was  the  source  of 
much  good  and  evil  alike,  until  the  period  when  the  magni 
tude  of  their  pretensions  and  the  abuse  of  their  power  brought 
about  the  great  revolt  of  the  Reformation.  It  was  under 
King  Edgar  that  the  Welshmen  saw  their  annual  tribute  of 
gold  and  silver  commuted  for  an  annual  presentation  of  three 
hundred  wolves'  heads,  a  measure  which  insured  the  destruc 
tion  of  these  ferocious  animals,  who  were  very  numerous  in 
England. 

King  Edgar,  who  was  under  the  authority  of  Dunstan,  con 
trived,  however,  sometimes  to  escape  from  his  influence  and  to 
indulge  in  all  kinds  of  excesses ;  but  the  archbishop  on  such 
occasions  would  reprove  him  severely.  He  imposed  upon 
him  as  a  penance,  for  a  serious  transgression,  the  disuse  of 
his  golden  crown  during  a  period  of  seven  years  —  a  severe 
punishment  for  the  vain  Edgar,  who  dearly  loved  to  bestow 
upon  himself  titles  as  pompous  as  those  of  the  Oriental  princes. 
Death  soon  put  an  end  to  this  penance.  Edgar  died  in  975, 
leaving  two  sons.  The  elder,  Edward,  who  succeeded  him, 
had  been  born  of  his  first  wife  ;  the  younger,  Ethelred,  was 
the  son  of  the  beautiful  but  treacherous  Elfrida,  for  whom 
the  king  had  conceived  a  violent  passion,  and  whom  he  had 
married  after  the  death  of  her  husband.  Edgar  was  even 


EDITH  POINTING  OUT  THE  BODY  OF  HAROLD. 


THE  MURDER  OF  EDWARD  IN  978. 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON  AND    DANISH    KINGS.  67 

accused  of  having   wilfully  killed   the   latter   in   the    hunting- 
field. 

Whatever  crime  may  have  been  committed  by  the  king  in 
order  to  gain  the  hand  of  Elfrida,  the  expiation  fell  to  the 
lot  of  his  children.  From  the  commencement  of  his  reign, 
the  young  Edward,  although  supported  by  Archbishop  Dun- 
stan,  sat  very  insecurely  upon  his  throne,  which  was  under 
mined  by  intrigues  in  favor  of  his  brother  Ethelred.  Three 
years  after  his  accession,  Edward  was  hunting  one  day  in 
Dorsetshire,  when  he  conceived  the  fatal  idea  of  paying  a  visit 
to  his  brother,  who  was  then  residing  in  Corfe  Castle.  It 
may  be,  that  on  his  arrival  he  was  struck  with  a  terrible 
presentiment  at  the  sight  of  his  step-mother  Elfrida,  for  he 
refused  to  dismount,  and  asked  only  for  some  refreshment  in 
order  to  drink  to  the  health  of  the  queen.  A  goblet  was 
brought  to  him  ;  but  while  he  was  carrying  it  to  his  lips,  a 
dagger  was  plunged  in  his  back.  His  body  quivered  with 
agony,  and  the  horse,  alarmed,  rushed  away,  carrying  across 
the  forest  the  body  of  the  young  king,  held  fast  by  the  stir 
rups.  When  the  body  was  found,  it  was  disfigured  by  the 
shrubs  and  the  stones  of  the  roads,  and  the-  long  fair  hair 
of  the  murdered  king  was  clotted  by  blood  and  dirt.  Queen 
Elfrida  had  accomplished  her  object,  but  not  without  trouble ; 
for  the  young  Ethelred,  grieved  at  the  death  of  his  brother, 
burst  in  tears,  which  irritated  his  mother  to  such  a  degree 
that  he  nearty  fell  a  victim  to  her  blows.  There  remained  no 
other  heir  to  the  throne :  Dunstan  and  his  friends  decided, 
not  without  some  reluctance,  to  recognize  the  claims  of  the 
son  of  Elfrida ;  but  in  crowning  him,  Dunstan,  it  is  said, 
gave  utterance  to  some  sinister  predictions  concerning  the 
misfortunes  which  threatened  his  reign,  and  it  was  he  who 
gave  to  this  young  king  that  title  of  "  unready,"  which  the 
latter  seemed  only  too  anxious  to  justify. 


68  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

For  several  years  the  Danes  who  were  established  in  Eng 
land  seemed  to  have  identified  themselves  with  the  Saxon 
race ;  the  invasions  of  the  Norsemen  had  ceased,  occupied  as 
they  were  with  devastating  the  coasts  of  France,  which  were 
but  badly  defended  by  the  feeble  Carlovingians.  But  a  new 
dynasty  was  about  to  be  established  in  France,  more  powerful 
and  more  warlike  than  the  descendants  of  Charlemagne.  Al 
ready  the  Danes  began  to  return  to  their  old  habits,  and  to 
turn  their  vessels  towards  the  English  coasts.  The  son  of 
the  king  of  Denmark,  Prince  Sweyn,  resolved  to  seek  his  for 
tune  in  foreign  lands.  A  band  of  bold  adventurers  gathered 
round  him,  and  after  several  little  preliminary  expeditions, 
they  landed  in  991  on  the  coast  of  East  Anglia,  between 
Ipswich  and  Maldon.  They  hoped  to  find  friends  there  among 
the  Danes  who  had  formerly  settled  in  that  territory ;  but 
Earl  Brethnolte,  who  was  in  command  there,  although  a  Dane 
by  birth,  remained  faithful  to  his  new  country  and  religion ; 
he  fought  valiantly  against  his  brothers  from  across  the  seas, 
and  was  killed  in  battle.  King  Ethelred  became  frightened; 
he  sent  offers  of  money  to  the  Norsemen.  The  latter  accept 
ed  ten  thousand  pounds  of  silver,  which  they  stowed  away  in 
their  long  vessels ;  and  carrying  with  them  the  head  of  Count 
Brethnolte,  they  started  to  return  to  their  own  country.  But 
the  plan  of  defence,  so  often  resorted  to  by  the  Carlovingian 
kings  in  France,  was  a  sure  means  of  bringing  back  the  "  Sea- 
Kings  "  the  following  year.  Soon  Ethelred  found  himself  com 
pelled  to  establish  a  regular  tax  which  was  known  as  "  dane- 
geld"  (Danish  money),  and  which  served  to  pay  the  ever- 
increasing  tribute  exacted  by  the  pirates.  In  993  the  Danes 
of  Northumbria  and  of  East  Anglia  rose  up  to  support  their 
countrymen  in  invading  the  country.  Sweyn  had  become 
king  of  Denmark,  and  had  the  whole  forces  of  that  country 
at  his  command.  In  994  his  ships  appeared  off  the  English 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON  AND   DANISH   KINGS.  69 

coasts,  accompanied  by  the  vessels  of  Olaf,  king  of  Norway, 
his  ally.  The  invaders  encountered  no  resistance  from  the 
king,  nor  any  serious  opposition  from  his  subjects.  Silver  was 
again  offered ;  but  this  time,  as  though  to  lessen  the  humilia 
tion  of  the  treaty,  the  Saxons  demanded  the  conversion  of  the 
Danes  to  Christianity.  Sweyn  did  not  hesitate  to  accede  to 
this :  he  caused  himself  to  be  baptized,  a  ceremony  which 
was  considered  very  unimportant  by  the  majority  of  the 
pirates,  some  of  whom  openly  boasted  that  they  had  been 
washed  twenty  times  in  the  baptismal  water.  But  Sweyn's 
ally,  King  Olaf,  who  was  sincerely  touched,  and  moved,  no 
doubt,  by  the  grace  of  God,  made  a  vow  never  to  return  to 
invade  England,  and  kept  his  promise.  Sweyn  reappeared 
alone  the  following  years.  In  1001  the  Danes  overran  the 
country,  from  the  Isle  of  Wight  to  Bristol,  without  meeting 
with  the  slightest  resistance.  The  price  of  their  withdrawal 
that  year  amounted  to  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  silver. 

The  Danes  had  disappeared ;  but  the  unlucky  king  of  Eng 
land  had  become  involved  in  fresh  difficulties,  through  his 
quarrels  with  Richard,  Duke  of  Normandy.  A  fleet  was  being 
raised  against  him  on  the  Norman  coast  when  Richard  died, 
leaving  to  his  son  Richard  II.  the  burden  of  carrying  on  the 
war.  The  interference  of  the  Pope  put  an  end  to  the  quar 
rel,  which  was  followed  by  the  marriage  of  Ethelred  with  the 
Countess  Emma,  sister  of  Richard,  who  was  called  the  "  flower 
of  Normandy."  Ethelred  already  had  six  sons  and  four  daugh 
ters  by  his  first  wife. 

The  young  queen  had  just  arrived  in  England,  and  the 
rejoicings  were  scarcely  at  an  end,  when  a  prolonged  cry  was 
heard  throughout  the  country.  Either  by  a  spontaneous  move 
ment,  or  in  consequence  of  secret  orders,  the  Saxons  had  risen 
in  every  direction  and  had  slaughtered  the  Danes  who  were 
established  in  their  midst,  and  whose  reiterated  insults  had 


70  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

become  unendurable.  "  A  Norseman  is  equal  to  ten  Saxons," 
the  Danish  lords  haughtily  said;  but  the  ten  Saxons  united 
had  triumphed  over  the  Norsemen.  Taken  by  surprise  on  the 
13th  bf  November,  St.  Brice's  Day,  "  women,  old  men,  and 
children,  good  arid  wicked,  big  and  little,  pagans  and  Chris 
tians,"  perished  under  the  effects  of  the  popular  hate  and 
revenge.  The  sister  of  King  Sweyn,  Gunhilda,  who  had  em 
braced  the  Christian  faith  in  order  to  marry  Palric,  Earl  of 
Northumbria,  a  chief  of  Danish  extraction,  saw  her  husband 
and  children  murdered  before  her  eyes,  and  afterwards  en 
countered  the  general  fate  herself.  "  My  brother  will  drown 
your  country  in  blood  when  he  avenges  me,"  she  exclaimed 
when  dying. 

Gunhilda  had  not  been  mistaken.  Already  the  news  of 
the  crime  which  had  been  committed  in  England  had  spread 
to  Denmark ;  an  immense  fleet  was  being  prepared.  The 
Norsemen,  actuated  this  time  by  their  thirst  for  revenge  as 
well  as  by  their  natural  love  of  plunder,  were  gathering 
eagerly  round  their  king;  not  a  serf,  not  a  freedman,  not 
an  old  soldier  was  admitted  into  this  chosen  band ;  the  free 
men,  in  the  flower  of  their  youth  and  strength,  alone  had  the 
privilege  of  avenging  their  brothers  slaughtered  in  a  foreign 
land. 

The  ships  of  the  Sea-Kings  were  resplendent  with  the 
golden  and  silver  ornaments  with  which  they  were  decked, 
from  prow  to  stern,  when  the  Great  Dragon,  with  King  Sweyn 
on  board,  came  first  to  land,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Exeter. 
The  defence  of  the  town  had  been  intrusted  to  a  Norman, 
Count  Hugo,  who  had  come  from  France  with  Queen 
Emma.  He  betrayed  King  Ethelred,  and  gave  up  the  town 
to  the  invaders.  Having  pillaged  and  burnt  down  Exeter, 
the  Danes  spread  throughout  Wiltshire.  On  arriving  at  a 
farm,  or  at  a  house  or  a  village,  they  would  order  the  trem- 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE    SAXON   AND   DANISH  KINGS.  71 

bling  inmates  to  prepare  a  meal ;  then,  having  satiated  their 
appetites  with  meat  and  mead,  they  would  murder  the  inmates 
upon  the  threshold  of  their  huts,  which  they  would  then 
burn  down,  and  remount  their  horses  to  go  forth  and  extend 
their  fearful  ravages. 

The  Saxon  king  meanwhile  was  organizing  an  army ;  but 
he  had  intrusted  the  command  of  it  to  the  Mercian  Elfric, 
the  chief  who  had  already  upon  a  previous  occasion  betrayed 
him,  and  whose  son's  eyes  had  been  put  out  in  consequence 
as  a  punishment.  Arrived  before  Sweyn  and  his  army,  Elfric 
declared  that  he  was  taken  ill ;  and  recalling  his  soldiers, 
who  were  prepared  for  the  struggle,  he  allowed  Sweyn  to 
pass  with  the  enormous  booty  that  he  was  going  to  place  on 
board  his  ships  before  descending  upon  the  Eastern  Counties, 
which  all  suffered  in  the  same  manner.  When  the  Danes  re 
turned  into  their  country,  in  1004,  they  were  escaping,  not 
from  the  Saxon  arms,  but  from  the  famine  which  their  rav 
ages  had  brought  upon  England. 

In  vain  did  King  Ethelred  solicit  the  help  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  Richard,  the  Norman  duke ;  the  disdain  which  he 
evinced  towards  his  young  wife  had  irritated  the  Normans 
to  such  a  degree  that  their  duke  had  caused  to  be  thrown 
into  prison  all  English  subjects  who  happened  to  be  within 
his  dominion.  Ethelred  therefore  found  himself  alone  and  a 
prey  to  the  pirates,  who  reappeared  in  1006  upon  the  English 
coasts.  England  was  exhausted.  Scarcely  had  the  Danes  left 
a  house,  after  exacting  a  ransom  for  each  member  of  the 
family  arid  for  each  head  of  cattle,  than  the  king's  collectors 
would  follow  in  their  steps,  demanding  the  sums  necessary  for 
paying  off  the  invaders,  and  imposing  a  fresh  penalty  for  the 
punishment  of  the  unhappy  wretches  who  had  given  money 
to  the  Danes. 

While  the  Saxon  king  was  plundering  his  subjects  in  order 


72  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

to  pay  an  ever-increasing  "  danegeld,"  while  the  people,  ex 
hausted,  were  writhing  under  the  double  extortion  of  the  con 
querors  and  of  the  legitimate  sovereign,  an  old  man  was 
enabled,  single-handed,  to  resist  the  demands  of  the  proud 
Danes.  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Elphege,  had  for 
twenty  days  defended  his  town  against  the  reiterated  assaults 
of  the  enemy,  when  a  traitor  opened  the  gates  to  the  Danes. 
They  rushed  into  the  place,  mad  with  anger  and  thirsting 
for  revenge.  They  sent  for  the  old  archbishop,  who  had 
not  sought  refuge  in  any  hiding-place.  He  was  brought 
forth,  bound  in  chains,  before  their  chief,  Thurkill.  "  Buy 
your  life,"  cried  the  chief,  touched  with  compassion.  "I  have 
no  money,"  the  archbishop  calmly  replied.  The  Danes  were 
beginning  to  close  round  him.  "  He  is  a  servant  of  God," 
said  Thurkill ;  "  perhaps  he  is  poor."  And  he  suggested 
a  small  sum  as  ransom  for  the  archbishop.  "  Prevail  upon 
your  king  to  collect  together  the  value  of  all  his  property, 
so  that  we  may  leave  England,"  he  added.  The  old  man 
looked  at  him  impassively.  "I  have  not  the  money  which 
you  ask  for,"  he  repeated,  "  and  I  shall  not  urge  the  king 
to  further  oppress  his  people  in  order  to  purchase  your 
departure."  The  eyes  of  the  Dane  flashed  with  anger ;  he 
no  longer  endeavored  to  protect  the  archbishop  against  his 
soldiers.  But  the  firmness  of  the  old  man  had  produced  a 
wonderful  effect  upon  them :  he  was  led  into  prison  without 
suffering  the  slightest  injury.  Towards  dusk,  when  he  was 
alone,  his  brother  found  a  means  of  reaching  him  ;  he  brought 
the  sum  fixed  upon  for  the  ransom  of  the  archbishop.  "  No," 
the  latter  said,  "  I  cannot  consent  to  enrich  the  enemies  of 
my  country."  The  Danes  came  hourly,  urging  the  old  man 
to  purchase  his  freedom.  "  You  will  urge  me  in  vain,"  at 
last  said  Elphege  ;  "  I  am  not  the  man  to  provide  Christian 
flesh  for  pagan  teeth,  by  robbing  my  flock  to  enrich  their 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON   AND   DANISH  KINGS.  73 

enemies."  The  pirates  had  lost  all  patience;  it  was  late; 
they  were  already  heated  with  drink;  they  dragged  the  old 
man  out  of  prison.  "  Gold,  bishop!  Give  us  gold!"  they 
all  cried  together,  and  they  closed  round  him  threateningly. 
The  old  man  was  silent ;  he  was  praying.  Hustled,  beaten, 
wounded,  the  archbishop  fell  upon  a  pile  of  bones,  the  re 
mains  of  the  rude  banquet.  His  enemies  seized  these  prim 
itive  weapons,  and  he  fell  under  their  blows.  A  Dane,  to 
whom  he  was  still  preaching  the  gospel  an  hour  before,  and 
whom  he  had  baptized  with  his  own  hands,  at  length  took 
a  hatchet  and  put  an  end  to  the  old  man's  agony. 

While  Elphege  was  resisting  and  dying,  Ethelred  was  sub 
mitting  and  paying  an  enormous  sum  of  money,  abandoning 
at  the  same  time  several  counties  to  the  Danes.  Thurkill 
settled  in  England,  after  swearing  fidelity  to  the  Saxon  mon 
arch.  His  conquests  excited  the  envy  of  Sweyn.  In  the 
following  j^ear  a  large  fleet  appeared  in  the  Humber,  and 
landed  near  York.  This  time  the  invaders  planted  their  lances 
in  the  ground,  or  threw  them  into  the  rivers,  to  intimate  that 
they  took  possession  of  the  soil.  The  Saxons  offered  no  re 
sistance.  Sweyn  had  overrun  all  the  Midland  and  Northern 
Counties,  and,  leaving  the  fleet  to  the  care  of  his  son  Canute, 
he  inarched  towards  the  South.  He  was  stopped  near  Lon 
don,  where  the  king  had  taken  refuge,  and  where  the  brave 
citizens  stood  firm  behind  their  massive  walls.  Sweyn  did 
not  attempt  to  conquer  their  town;  he  turned  towards  the 
West,  and  all  Devonshire  received  him  with  open  arms.  He 
was  proclaimed  king  at  Bath.  Ethelred  was  gradually  losing 
the  little  power  which  he  still  retained.  He  suddenly  left 
London,  which  surrendered  soon  afterwards,  and  he  took  ref 
uge  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.  From  thence  he  sent  his  wife 
Emma  to  Normandy  with  the  two  sons  whom  she  had  borne 
to  him,  Edward  and  Alfred.  In  spite  of  his  disagreements 

VOL.  I.  10 


74  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IV. 

with  his  brother-in-law,  the  Duke  Richard  received  his  sister 
with  so  much  kindness  that  Ethelred  soon  followed  her,  and 
arrived  at  Rouen  while  Sweyn  was  taking  the  title  of  King 
of  England.  (January,  1013.) 

Titles  are  easily  taken,  but  conquests  are  sometimes  difficult 
to  keep.  Six  weeks  after  the  flight  of  the  Saxon  king  the 
Danish  king  died  suddenly  at  Gainsborough,  and  the  power 
was  slipping  from  the  hands  of  his  son  Canute.  The  nobility 
and  people  of  England  had  recalled  Ethelred  to  the  throne ; 
they  added,  however,  the  words  "  providing  that  he  will  gov 
ern  us  better  than  heretofore."  The  king  did  not  rely  en 
tirely  upon  the  promises  of  his  subjects.  He  sent  his  son 
Edward  to  negotiate  with  the  principal  chief.  When  he  re- 
entered  London,  his  first  care  was  to  declare  that  no  Danish 
prince  could  have  any  pretensions  to  the  throne  ;  but  Canute 
had  already  been  proclaimed  king  by  his  army  and  by  the 
Danes  established  in  England,  and  the  war  had  recommenced. 
Ethelred  died  in  the  year  1016,  in  the  midst  of  all  this  con 
fusion,  and  at  the  time  when  the  Danes  were  preparing  to 
lay  siege  to  London. 

Three  sons  by  his  first  wife  yet  remained  to  Ethelred.  One 
of  them,  Edmund,  called  "Ironsides"  on  account  of  his 
strength  and  prowess,  had  already  commanded  the  armies 
during  the  lifetime  of  his  father ;  he  was  proclaimed  king. 
But  the  country  was  divided ;  the  Danes  established  through 
out  the  kingdom  were  powerful  and  numerous ;  treason  crept 
even  into  the  most  intimate  councils  of  the  new  king.  Twice 
he  delivered  London  when  besieged;  he  fought  five  pitched 
battles,  and  repulsed  on  several  occasions  the  Danes,  driving 
them  northwards.  At  length  he  proposed  to  Canute  that 
they  should  decide  their  pretensions  to  the  crown  by  the 
appeal  to  arms  in  single  combat.  Unlike  the  majority  of  his 
race,  Canute  was  not  tall,  and  he  was  quite  unfitted  to  sustain 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON    AND   DANISH  KINGS.  75 

a  struggle  against  the  gigantic  stature  of  Edmund.  "  Let  us 
rather  divide  the  kingdom,  as  our  ancestors  did  before  us," 
he  said.  The  two  armies  received  this  proposition  with  accla 
mation.  The  North  of  England  was  allotted  to  Canute,  and 
Edmund  contented  himself  with  the  South,  with  a  nominal 
right  of  sovereignty  over  the  whole  kingdom.  One  month 
afterwards,  the  Saxon  king  was  dead,  and  Canute,  convoking 
the  "Wittenagemot"  of  the  South,  protested  that  the  treaty 
contained  no  stipulation  in  favor  of  Edmund's  heirs.  The 
chiefs  declared  themselves  of  the  same  opinion  ;  the  Dane 
was  proclaimed  king  of  all  England,  and  the  children  of  Iron 
sides  were  placed  in  his  hands. 

Canute  had  proclaimed  an  amnesty ;  but  on  seizing  power, 
he  immediately  proscribed  all  the  partisans  of  Edmund  whom 
he  did  not  put  to  death.  "  Whoever  brings  me  the  head  of 
an  enemy  shall  be  dearer  to  me  than  a  brother,"  said  he. 
Many  heads  were  brought  to  him.  The  Wittenagemot  which 
had  until  then  excluded  from  the  throne  all  the  Danish 
princes,  voted  the  same  sentence  against  the  Saxon  princes. 
Canute,  however,  had  not  assassinated  the  children  of  Edmund  ; 
he  sent  them  to  his  ally,  the  king  of  Sweden  —  no  doubt,  with 
sinister  intentions  ;  but  the  innocence  and  beauty  of  his  vic 
tims  touched  the  heart  of  the  proud  Scandinavian :  he  could 
not  keep  them  by  his  side,  and  he  therefore  sent  them  to 
the  court  of  the  king  of  Hungary,  St.  Stephen,  who  received 
them  kindly  and  brought  them  up  carefully.  One  of  them, 
Edmund,  died  early  ;  the  second,  Edward,  subsequently  mar 
ried  Agatha,  daughter  of  the  emperor  of  Germany,  and  we 
shall  see  his  children  reappear  in  history. 

The  Duke  Richard  of  Normandy  did  not  protest,  in  the 
name  of  his  nephews,  against  the  elevation  of  Canute ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  even  offered  his  sister,  widow  of  Ethelred, 
in  marriage  to  the  Dane.  Canute  accepted  this  offer,  and 


76  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CjiAP,  IV. 

the  Norman  princess  found  herself  placed  for  the  second  time 
on  the  throne  of  England,  which  was  so  dear  to  her  heart 
that,  in  order  to  reach  it,  she  stifled  all  her  natural  instincts. 
As  soon  as  she  had  borne  a  son  to  Canute,  she  lost  all  affec 
tion  for  the  children  whom  she  had  left  in  France,  and  who 
became  more  and  more  Normans  by  habit  during  their  pro 
longed  absence  from  England. 

Power  has  different  effects  upon  different  men :  it  hardens 
and  corrupts  some,  while  it  humanizes  and  exalts  others. 
Canute  made  good  use  of  his  power,  and  when  he  was  de 
livered  from  the  enemies  whom  he  dreaded  most,  his  govern 
ment  became  less  severe  and  more  regular  than  that  of  the 
recent  Saxon  kings.  The  English  followed  their  new  chief 
in  all  his  wars,  and  fought  valiantly  at  his  side  to  secure  to 
him  the  crowns  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway.  The 
viceroy  of  Wales  refused  to  render  homage  to  Canute,  whom 
he  treated  as  a  usurper ;  Malcolm,  king  of  Scotland,  upheld 
the  rights  of  the  descendants  of  Ethelred  to  the  throne  of 
England.  The  Normans  did  not  lend  any  help  in  these  dem 
onstrations,  and  Canute  triumphed  over  the  Welsh  and  the 
Scotch. 

The  influence  of  the  Christian  religion  was  slowly  but  sure 
ly  producing  a  good  effect  on  the  fierce  Danes.  Sweyn  had 
been  baptized,  but  he  had  afterwards  sunk  again  into  pagan 
practices.  His  son  constructed  churches  and  monasteries,  and 
made  a  solemn  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  on  foot  and  with  a  wallet 
on  his  back,  to  obtain  forgiveness  for  the  crimes  which  he  had 
committed.  Already,  in  the  midst  of  a  warlike  life,  a  sense 
of  justice  seemed  to  have  developed  itself  in  his  soul :  he  had 
been  guilty  of  killing  a  soldier  in  an  outburst  of  passion  ;  he 
descended  from  his  throne,  convoked  his  chiefs,  and  asked 
them  to  impose  a  penalty  upon  him.  All  remained  silent. 
The  king  insisted,  however,  promising  not  to  be  offended. 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE    SAXON   AND   DANISH  KINGS.  77 

The  chiefs  left  it  to  his  own  discretion,  and  Canute  con 
demned  himself  to  pay  a  fine  of  three  times  as  much  as  the 
sum  fixed  by  the  Danish  law,  as  the  penalty  for  murdering 
a  soldier,  adding  at  the  same  time  nine  golden  talents  as 
compensation. 

Having  returned  to  England  after  his  pilgrimage  to  Rome 
and  a  journey  to  Denmark,  Canute  applied  himself  to  the 
administration  of  the  laws  which  he  had  promulgated.  "  I 
will  have  no  money  acquired  by  unjust  means,"  he  had  said 
in  a  letter  to  Archbishop  Elfric.  The  latter  portion  of  the 
reign  of  the  Dane  was  not  characterized  by  any  crime  or  act 
of  oppression.  Canute  had  learned  that  there  was  a  tribunal 
above  to  which  he  owed  respect  and  submission.  One  day, 
as  his  courtiers  were  over-rating  his  power,  the  king  ordered 
that  his  throne  should  be  placed  upon  the  margin  of  the 
sea.  The  tide  was  rising.  Canute,  seated  on  the  beach,  or 
dered  the  waves  to  stop  in  their  onward  course.  "  Ocean," 
he  said,  "  the  earth  upon  which  I  sit  is  mine  ;  you  form  a 
portion  of  my  dominions ;  do  not  rise  as  far  as  my  feet ;  I 
forbid  you."  The  sea  still  continued  rising  ;  it  was  already 
bathing  the  king's  mantle,  when  he  turned  to  his  flatterers. 
"  You  see,"  he  said,  "  what  human  power  is,  compared  to 
that  of  Him  who  says  to  the  sea,  'Thou  shalt  go  no  fur 
ther.'  '  And,  depositing  his  golden  crown  in  the  cathedral 
of  Winchester,  he  refused  thereafter  to  wear  that  emblem  of 
sovereignty. 

Canute  died  in  1035,  leaving  three  sons :  Harold  and  Sweyn, 
born  of  a  Danish  mother ;  and  Hardicanute,  son  of  Princess 
Emma.  He  had  divided  his  states  among  his  children,  leav 
ing  England  to  Harold,  Denmark  to  Hardicanute,  and  Norway 
to  Sweyn.  These  two  last  princes  already,  no  doubt,  exer 
cised 'some  authority  in  their  dominions,  for  both  were  in  the 
North  when  their  father  died.  But  England  was  wont  to 


78  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

have  a  voice  in  questions  of  succession ;  and  Canute  left  behind 
him  a  powerful  favorite,  who  was  inclined  to  further  the 
interests  of  Hardicanute.  This  favorite  was  Earl  Godwin,  a 
nobleman  of  Saxon  extraction,  formerly  but  a  simple  herds 
man  in  the  county  of  Warwick.  During  the  struggle  between 
Edmund  and  Canute,  a  Danish  chieftain,  named  Ulf,  had  lost 
his  way  in  a  forest,  in  the  evening  after  a  battle.  He  had 
walked  in  vain  all  night,  when,  at  daybreak,  he  met  a  young 
countryman  who  was  driving  a  herd  of  cattle.  "  What  is 
your  name?"  asked  the  Dane.  "I  am  Godwin,  son  of  Ul- 
fuoth,"  said  the  young  man ;  "  and  you  are  a  Danish  soldier." 
The  warrior  hesitated.  "  It  is  true,"  he  said  at  length.  "  But 
could  you  tell  me  the  way  to  my  countrymen's  ships,  on 
the  sea-coast?"  Godwin  shook  his  head.  "He  is  a  very 
foolish  Dane,"  he  said,  "  who  expects  a  favor  from  a  Saxon." 
And  he  hurried  on  his  f  cattle.  Ulf  insisted.  "  There  are 
many  of  my  countrymen  close  to  us,"  replied  the  herdsman  ; 
"  they  would  spare  neither  me  nor  you  if  they  should  meet 
us."  The  chieftain  silently  offered  him  the  heavy  golden 
ring  which  he  wore  on  his  finger.  Godwin  looked  at  him. 
"  I  will  accept  nothing  from  you,"  he  said ;  "  but  I  will  try 
and  show  you  the  way." 

They  came  to  Godwin's  hut.  He  invited  the  Dane  in. 
"Remember,"  said  the  herdsman's  father  to  the  Dane,  "that 
he  is  my  only  son,  and  that  he  sacrifices  his  safety  for  you. 
Try  and  find  employment  for  him  at  your  king's  court."  Ulf 
promised  to  do  so,  and  kept  his  word.  Canute  took  a  fancy 
to  the  young  Saxon,  who  had  attained  the  rank  of  governor 
of  a  province  when  the  king  died.  He  immediately  declared 
himself  in  favor  of  the  son  of  Emma,  who  was  not  so  thor 
oughly  Danish  as  his  brothers.  Leofric,  governor  of  Mercia, 
took  up  the  cause  of  Harold,  in  common  with  all  the  northern 
chiefs.  The  town  of  London  followed  their  example.  War 


CANUTE  AND   HIS   COURTIERS. 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON  AND  DANISH   KINGS.  79 

was  about  to  break  out ;  but  the  Wittenagemote  convoked  at 
Oxford  allotted  all  the  provinces  north  of  the  Thames  to 
Harold,  and  those  on  the  south  to  Hardicanute. 

While  Queen  Emma  and  Godwin  were  thus  striving  to 
secure  the  power  for  the  young  king  of  Denmark,  the  latter 
lingered  in  his  northern  possessions,  and  had  not  yet  set  his 
foot  in  England.  His  Norman  brothers,  sons  of  Ethelred  and 
Emma,  had  been  more  prompt.  Scarcely  had  the  news  of  the 
death  of  Canute  reached  Normandy,  when  the  elder  of  the 
two  princes,  Edward,  who  subsequently  became  Edward  the 
Confessor,  landed  at  Southampton  with  a  few  ships.  But 
Queen  Emma's  natural  affection  was  confined  to  her  son  by 
Canute :  she  raised  the  country  against  her  eldest  child,  who 
was  obliged  to  retire  precipitately.  His  ill-success  did  not 
discourage  his  brother  Alfred;  and,  the  following  year  (1037), 
the  two  princes  received  a  letter,  coming,  it  was  said,  from 
their  mother,  urging  them  to  come  secretly  to  England,  where 
the  people  were  anxious  to  have  a  king  of  Saxon  origin  to 
rule  over  them.  Alfred  immediately  embarked  for  England, 
followed  by  some  troops  from  Normandy  and  Boulogne.  He 
landed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Herne  Bay.  Godwin  had 
come  to  meet  him  and  appeared  friendly ;  but,  either  from 
premeditated  treason,  or  from  annoyance  at  seeing  the  stran 
gers  who  accompanied  the  prince,  Godwin  altered  his  mind, 
and  took  Alfred  to  Guildford,  lodging  the  Normans  in  the 
houses  of  that  town.  In  the  dead  of  night,  while  the  little 
band  of  soldiers  were  asleep,  Harold's  soldiers  surrounded 
Guildford ;  the  Normans  were  made  prisoners,  Godwin  mean 
while  not  appearing  on  the  scene  to  defend  them,  and  a  fear 
ful  massacre  took  place  at  daylight.  Six  hundred  men,  it  is 
said,  were  slaughtered  in  cold  blood,  and  the  unhappy  Alfred 
was  dragged  to  London,  from  whence  Harold  sent  him,  bound 
Land  and  foot,  to  the  Isle  of  Ely.  He  appeared  before  a 


80  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

Danish  council  of  war,  and  was  condemned  to  have  his  eyes 
put  out,  as  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace.  He  died  a  few 
days  afterwards.  Harold  soon  sent  Queen  Emma  into  exile, 
and  Godwin  having  sworn  allegiance  to  him,  he  was  proclaimed 
king  of  all  England,  not,  however,  without  some  dissatisfaction 
on  the  part  of  the  Saxons.  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Ethelnoth,  who  was  a  Saxon,  refused  to  crown  him.  Deposit 
ing  on  the  altar  the  royal  emblems,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  will 
not  give  them  to  you.  I  do  not  forbid  you  to  take  them, 
but  I  refuse  to  bestow  my  benediction  upon  you,  and  no 
bishop  shall  consecrate  your  throne."  It  is  said  that,  there 
upon,  Harold  seized  the  crown,  and  placed  it  upon  his  head 
with  his  own  hands.  Some  chroniclers  state  that  he  subse 
quently  found  favor  with  the  archbishop ;  but  the  Dane  was 
more  than  half  pagan  ;  he  had  abandoned  the  Christian  Church. 
When  divine  service  was  being  celebrated,  when  the  bells 
were  ringing,  and  the  priests  were  mounting  the  altars,  he 
would  let  loose  his  dogs,  and  start  for  the  forest  to  enjoy 
the  pleasure  of  hunting  or  racing ;  a  fondness  for  which  pas 
times  won  him  the  name  of  "  Harefoot."  He  died  in  1040, 
at  the  time  when  his  brother  Hardicanute  had  just  repaired 
to  Flanders,  where  Queen  Emma  had  taken  refuge,  to  con 
sult  her  preparatory  to  attempting  an  invasion  of  England. 
Soon  afterwards  an  embassy  of  Danish  chieftains  and  English 
counts  came  unsolicited  and  offered  him  his  brother's  throne. 
He  thereupon  came  to  England  with  his  mother. 

Hardicanute,  like  his  predecessors,  was  thoroughly  Danish 
by  nature  ;  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table, 
surrounding  himself  at  the  same  time  by  the  chieftains  whom 
he  had  brought  over  with  him  from  the  North ;  despising  and 
oppressing  the  Saxons,  from  whom  he  still  exacted  danegeld, 
as  in  the  old  times  of  the  invasions.  He  had  attributed  his 
brother's  misfortunes  to  Godwin;  but  the  count  had  been 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON  AND    DANISH   KINGS.  81 

able  to  justify  himself  before  a  council,  in  spite  of  public 
opinion  which  condemned  him.  The  presents  which  he  had 
offered  to  the  king  had  had  the  effect  of  putting  an  end  to 
the  prosecution.  Hardicanute  had  accepted  from  him  a  mag 
nificent  ship  covered  with  burnished  metal,  ornamented  with 
gold,  and  manned  by  eighty  warriors  furnished  with  every 
kind  of  weapon.  By  degrees  power  had  returned  entirely 
into  the  hands  of  Godwin  arid  Emma,  when,  in  1042,  Hardi 
canute,  at  a  banquet,  fell  a  victim  to  the  excesses  of  every 
kind  to  which  he  was  accustomed. 

The  Saxon  earl  had  resolved  to  deliver  his  country  from 
the  Danish  yoke.  He  immediately  sent  for  Prince  Edward, 
who  was  still  in  Normandy,  and  was  more  a  monk  than  a 
prince.  The  popular  feeling  in  his  favor  which  enabled  Ed 
ward  to  return  to  England,  was  shared  and  fostered  by  the 
very  man  to  whom  he  attributed  his  brother's  death ;  but 
the  new  king  was  powerless  and  a  stranger  in  the  country 
which  recalled  him  after  an  exile  which  he  had  endured 
during  nearly  the  whole  of  his  lifetime.  He  dissembled  and 
accepted  the  hand  of  Edith,  daughter  of  Godwin,  a  good  and 
gentle  princess  who  "  was  born  of  Godwin  as  the  rose  is  born 
in  the  midst  of  thorns,"  the  chroniclers  say.  Edward  was 
always  cold  towards  her,  and  he  manifested  something  more 
than  coldness  towards  Queen  Emma.  He  could  not  forget 
how  she  had  repulsed  him,  and  how  she  had  failed  to  do 
anything  to  defend  her  son  Alfred  —  even  if  she  had  not 
actually  allured  him  to  his  ruin.  He  ordered  her  to  remain 
within  her  domains,  which  had  been  greatly  reduced,  and 
refused  to  see  her  any  more. 

The  power  which  Edward  had  regained  was,  however, 
scarcely  more  than  nominal.  The  "  Great  Earl,"  as  Godwin 
was  called,  had  exacted  the  value  of  his  services.  He  and 
his  six  sons  held  possession  of  nearly  all  the  South  of  Eng- 

VOL.  I.  11 


82  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

land.  Besides  this,  his  rival,  Earl  Leofric,  was  all-powerful 
in  Mercia.  Si  ward  held  the  whole  of  the  North,  from  the 
Hurnber  to  the  frontiers  of  Scotland.  Happily  for  the  king, 
all  these  chieftains  were  opposed  to  each  other.  Edward  took 
advantage  of  their  rivalries,  trying  from  time  to  time  to  re 
dress  the  wrongs  of  the  people,  who  were  oppressed  and 
deprived  of  all  power.  But  in  vain  did  he  suppress  the  dane- 
geld ;  in  vain  did  he  inspire  an  almost  superstitious  veneration 
towards  himself  in  his  subjects  by  reason  of  the  austerity  of 
his  life :  the  English  never  forgave  him  for  the  affection  which 
he  manifested  towards  the  Normans  and  his  preference  for 
them,  which  induced  him  not  only  to  surround  himself  with 
the  friends  of  his  younger  days,  but  to  lavish  all  the  favors 
on  them  which  he  had  at  his  disposal.  The  king's  ordinary 
conversation  was  carried  on  in  the  Norman  language ;  he 
dressed  in  Norman  fashion ;  he  raised  to  clerical  dignities  the 
Norman  priests  who  had  come  over  with  him,  and  thus  con 
trived  to  excite  considerable  jealousy  in  the  people,  —  all  which 
increased  the  influence  of  Godwin. 

An  event  happened  which  caused  their  animosity  to  break 
out  openly.  Eustace  of  Boulogne,  the  brother-in-law  of  King 
Edward,  who  had  married  the  latter's  sister,  the  Lady  Goda, 
landed  in  England  with  a  numerous  suite  of  troops  from 
Boulogne  and  Normandy.  He  was  received  in  a  very  friendly 
manner  by  the  king,  and  loaded  with  presents.  He  was  re 
turning  home,  when,  on  arriving  at  Dover,  some  of  the  inhab 
itants  resisted  the  action  of  the  strangers  in  unceremoniously 
taking  up  their  quarters  in  the  town.  Eustace's  soldiers, 
greatly  incensed,  killed  those  who  closed  the  gate  at  their 
approach.  The  whole  town  rose  against  them  in  consequence 
of  this  act ;  they  were  beaten  and  routed.  They  took  refuge 
in  Gloucester,  where  King  Edward  was  staying,  who  ordered 
Earl  Godwin  to  impose  a  punishment  on  the  inhabitants  of 


CHAP.  IV.]        THE   SAXON  AND   DANISH   KINGS.  83 

Dover.  Godwin  told  the  king  to  inquire  into  the  affair. 
Edward,  however,  summoned  Godwin  to  appear  before  him. 
The  earl  was  in  no  hurry  to  do  so.  Uneasy  at  the  king's 
projects,  he  began  to  raise  troops  throughout  his  dominions, 
and  his  son  Harold  did  likewise.  Godwin  soon  found  himself 
at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force.  The  king  summoned  to 
his  aid  Leofric,  Count  of  Mercia,  and  Siward,  Earl  of  Nor- 
thumbria.  These  two  great  rivals  of  Godwin  immediately  ad 
vanced  with  an  army ;  but  the  old  hatred  between  the  Danes 
and  the  Saxons  had  almost  worn  itself  out.  The  soldiers 
from  the  North  considered  themselves  English  as  well  as  those 
from  the  South,  and  they  all  murmured  at  the  idea  of  coming 
to  blows.  It  was  agreed  to  lay  the  subject  before  the  Wit- 
tenagemot  j  but,  in  the  meanwhile,  before  the  meeting  of  the 
assembly,  Godwin's  soldiers,  who  were  nearly  all  volunteers, 
were  slowly  dispersing,  while  the  king  had  collected  together 
a  numerous  army.  When  the  Wittenagemot  began  to  sit, 
the  earl  and  his  sons  were  summoned  to  appear  and  establish 
their  innocence.  They  hesitated,  however,  being  unwilling 
to  trust  to  the  impartiality  of  the  judges ;  and,  in  consequence 
of  the  decision  which  was  come  to  in  their  absence,  they 
were  banished,  driven  from  England  within  five  days,  and 
condemned  to  have  all  their  goods  confiscated.  Godwin,  his 
wife,  and  three  of  their  sons  sought  refuge  at  the  court  of 
Flanders.  Harold  and  his  brother  Leofwin  fled  to  Ireland. 
Edward  consigned  to  a  convent  the  only  person  of  Godwin's 
family  remaining  in  England,  Queen  Edith.  "  It  is  not  ad 
visable,"  said  the  Norman  courtiers,  "  that  she  should  live  in 
luxury  and  with  wealth  at  her  command,  while  her  relations 
are  suffering  from  such  misfortunes." 

Delivered  from  the  ambitious  and  powerful  Godwin,  Edward 
was  beginning  to  feel  himself  a  king  in  reality.  He  took  ad 
vantage  of  this  to  surround  himself  with  those  persons  only 


84  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IV. 

who  were  personally  devoted  to  him.  Among  others  whom 
he  wished  to  see  at  his  court  was  the  Duke  of  Normandy, 
William  the  Bastard,  as  he  was  called,  his  mother  being  the 
daughter  of  a  tanner  at  Falaise.  Edward  was  still  an  exile 
in  Normandy,  when  the  Duke  Robert,  William's  father,  con 
ceived  the  idea  of  making  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  to  obtain 
forgiveness  for  his  sins.  These  expeditions  were  of  frequent 
occurrence  among  the  Normans.  The  barons  represented, 
however,  to  the  duke  that  it  would  be  inexpedient  to  thus 
leave  his  dominions  without  a  ruler.  "  By  my  faith,"  an 
swered  Robert,  "  I  will  not  leave  you  lordless !  I  have  a 
little  bastard  son  who  will  grow  up,  please  God :  accept  him 
from  this  moment ;  I  invest  him  with  this  duchy  before  you 
all."  The  Normans  did  as  the  duke  proposed,  "because  it 
suited  them  to  do  so,"  the  chronicle  says,  and  all  the  chiefs 
came,  one  after  the  other,  and  placed  their  rough  hands  be 
tween  those  of  the  child,  swearing  allegiance  to  him. 

But  scarcely  had  the  duke,  his  father,  started  than  the 
murmuring  began.  The  Normans  were  proud,  restless,  un 
manageable  ;  it  was  repugnant  to  their  feelings  to  live  under 
the  dominion  of  a  child  and  a  bastard  ;  a  war  soon  broke  out ; 
the  partisans  of  young  William  carried  him  off,  but  the  king 
of  France  came  to  their  aid.  When  the  child  had  reached 
manhood,  he  soon  manifested  rare  courage  and  a  strong  and 
ungovernable  will,  as  well  as  that  ambitious  disposition  which 
was  destined  to  make  the  fortune  of  himself  and  his  partisans. 
He  was  twenty-seven  years  old  when  he*  came  to  England  in 
1050  to  the  court  of  King  Edward. 

He  might  almost  have  imagined  that  he  was  not  really  out 
of  his  dominions :  a  Norman  was  in  command  of  the  fleet  near 
Dover;  Norman  soldiers  were  in  possession  of  a  fort  near 
Canterbury ;  and  as  he  advanced  into  the  country,  other 
Normans,  priests  and  laymen,  gathered  round  him.  King 


CHAP.  IV.]      THE  SAXON   AND   DANISH  KINGS.  85 

Edward  received  him  in  a  very  friendly  manner,  and  made 
him  presents  of  arms,  horses,  dogs,  and  hawks ;  it  is  not  known 
whether  William  was  incited  by  any  hint  from  Edward  to 
claim  the  inheritance  of  this  rich  kingdom,  which  was  to  be 
without  a  master  at  the  death  of  the  king.  Edward  did  not 
mention  it,  and  the  duke  could  keep  his  secrets. 

He  had  just  returned  to  Normandy,  when  Count  Godwin 
appeared  upon  the  coast  of  Kent  with  three  ships ;  he  had 
sent  some  emissaries  to  his  numerous  friends,  and  the  entire 
population  had  risen  in  his  favor.  At  the  same  time  his 
sons  Harold  and  Leofwin,  coming  from  Ireland,  joined  him 
with  a  small  army. 

The  father  and  his  sons  sailed  round  the  coast,  and  every 
where  met  with  followers.  When  they  at  length  landed  at 
Sandwich,  nobody  ventured  to  resist  them.  King  Edward 
was  in  London,  collecting  together  his  warriors,  -who  came 
forward  very  slowty.  Godwin's  vessels  had  ascended  the 
Thames  and  found  themselves  under  the  very  walls  of  London. 
They  soon  passed  the  bridge,  and  landed  their  troops.  The 
king  meanwhile  did  not  stir. 

Godwin  had  arrived  at  the  capital  without  discharging  an 
arrow  or  unsheathing  a  sword ;  he  sent  a  message  to  the  king 
in  which  he  demanded  the  remission  of  the  sentence  which 
had  been  pronounced  against  him.  Edward  was  aware  of  the 
desperate  state  of  his  affairs,  but  he  was  incensed  at  the  daring 
of  the  earl,  and  refused  to  listen  to  his  demands.  Several  other 
messages  were  delivered.  The  king  at  this  critical  moment  was 
still  surrounded  by  his  Norman  favorites.  He  could  not  order 
his  vessels  to  attack  those  of  Godwin,  for  the  crews  had  been 
gained  over  by  the  insurgents  ;  but  Edward  remained  inflex 
ible.  The  Normans  who  were  with  him  foresaw  the  issue  of 
the  conflict,  and  feared  the  vengeance  of  Godwin.  They  began 
to  fly.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Robert,  and  the  Bishop 


86  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

of  London,  William,  mounted  their  horses  and  fought  their 
way  to  the  sea-coast,  where  they  embarked.  The  king  at 
length  surrendered;  a  Wittenagemot  was  convoked,  and  the 
sentence  of  banishment  pronounced  against  Godwin  and  his 
sons  was  annulled  and  transferred  to  the  Normans,  who  were 
in  their  turn  expelled  from  England.  Queen  Edith  reappeared 
in  her  husband's  palace.  Godwin  and  his  family  regained 
their  honors  and  property.  The  younger  of  the  sons  and  one 
of  the  grandsons  of  the  great  earl  were  the  only  hostages 
given  to  the  king,  who  confided  them  to  the  keeping  of  the 
Duke  of  Normandy.  Sweyn,  in  expiation  of  his  former  sins, 
gave  up  both  his  titles  and  his  wealth  to  perform  a  pilgrim 
age  barefooted  to  Jerusalem.  He  died  long  before  reaching 
the  Holy  Land. 

Peace  seemed  re-established  in  England,  but  the  king  still 
nourished  the  bitterest  hatred  against  Godwin.  The  peace 
would  probably  not  have  been  of  long  duration  had  not  the 
death  of  the  earl,  which  took  place  in  1053,  put  an  end  to  their 
rivalry.  The  Norman  chronicles  relate  that  he  was  seated  at 
the  royal  table,  when  a  servant,  accidentally  losing  his  balance, 
supported  himself  by  leaning  against  another.  "  There,"  said 
Godwin,  laughing,  "  that  is  how  brother  helps  brother."  "  Yes, 
certainly,"  said  the  king,  "  one  brother  requires  the  help  of 
another,  and  I  would  to  God  that  mine  were  still  alive." 
"  King,"  cried  Godwin,  "  how  comes  it  that  at  the  slightest 
remembrance  of  your  brother,  you  always  look  so  fiercely  at 
me  ?  If  I  helped  to  cause  his  misfortune  even  indirectly,  may 
the  Lord  of  Heaven  prevent  my  swallowing  this  piece  of 
bread."  At  that  moment,  while  carrying  the  bread  to  his 
mouth,  the  earl  had  a  fit  of  choking,  and  fell  back,  "  struck 
down  by  the  hand  of  Providence."  He  died  a  few  days  after 
wards,  almost  at  the  same  moment  as  his  old  rival,  Siward, 
Count  of  North umbria.  The  latter  was  ill  and  bedridden,  when 


CHAP.  IV.]      THE   SAXON  AND   DANISH   KINGS.  87 

he  said,  "  Lift  me  up,  that  I  may  die  standing,  like  a  soldier, 
and  not  lying  down  like  a  cow  j  give  me  my  cuirass  and 
helmet,  that  I  may  die  armed."  It  is  this  old  Siward  whom 
Shakspeare  represents  in  Macbeth,  inquiring  anxiously,  before 
mourning  the  death  of  his  son,  about  the  situation  of  the  fatal 
wounds,  and  consoling  himself  amid  his  grief  with  the  thought 
that  they  had  all  been  received  in  front,  and  that  his  son  had 
died  like  a  brave  warrior. 

The  son  whom  Siward  left  was  too  young  to  succeed  him 
in  the  government  of  his  vast  dominions,  which  were  presented 
to  Tostig,  one  of  Godwin's  sons.  Harold  had  a]l  the  estates 
of  his  father  left  to  him,  and  although  very  loath  to  do  so,  he 
gave  up  the  command  of  the  eastern  territories  which  he  had 
hitherto  held,  to  Elfgar,  son  of  Leofric  of  Mercia. 

King  Edward  was  much  attached  to  Harold,  the  bravest 
and  best  of  Godwin's  sons ;  and  the  English  people  shared 
this  affection  with  him.  Tostig,  on  the  contrary,  soon  caused 
himself  to  be  detested  in  Northumbria.  The  people  organized 
an  insurrection  in  1066,  and  he  was  driven  from  his  territories. 
The  king  instructed  Harold  to  quell  the  insurrection,  but  the 
latter  knew  his  brother  well,  and  understood  the  grievances 
of  the  people  whom  he  had  oppressed.  He  made  proposals 
to  the  Northumbrians  of  a  conference  for  peace,  endeavoring 
at  the  same  time  to  exonerate  his  brother,  and  promising  that 
the  latter's  conduct  should  be  more  worthy  in  future.  The 
insurgents  refused  haughtily.  "  A  proud  and  overbearing  chief 
is  unendurable  to  us,"  they  said ;  "  we  have  learned  from  our 
ancestors  to  live  free  or  die."  Harold  himself  conveyed  the 
message  of  the  Northumbrians  to  the  king,  and  Morcar,  son 
of  Elfgar,  was  elected  in  place  of  Tostig,  who  took  refuge  at 
the  court  of  Flanders. 

Edward  was  growing  old,  and  he  had  no  children.  His 
devotion  was  becoming  day  by  day  more  fervent.  He  thought 


88  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

of  making  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  but  the  Wittenagemot  opposed 
it.  For  the  first  time  the  king  thought  of  his  nephew  Edward, 
son  of  Edmund  Ironsides,  who  was  still  in  Hungary,  where 
he  had  been  brought  up.  He  sent  for  him.  Edward  Atheling, 
as  he  was  called,  immediately  set  out  with  his  wife,  daughter 
of  the  emperor  of  Germany,  arid  also  with  his  three  children, 
Edward,  Margaret,  and  Christiana.  The  English  people  were 
delighted.  The  memory  of  "Ironsides"  had  remained  popu 
lar,  and  his  son  was  received  with  acclamation.  But  this 
was  only  by  the  people,  for  the  king,  who  had  sent  for  his 
nephew  with  the  evident  intention  of  making  him  his  heir, 
never  saw  his  face.  By  reason  of  some  intrigues,  probably 
of  Harold,  the  interview  was  delayed,  and  before  it  could 
take  place  the  prince  died  in  London,  where  he  was  buried, 
in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  Godwin's  son  was  rapidly  approach 
ing  the  throne. 

For  more  than  ten  years,  Harold's  brother,  Wulfnoth,  and 
his  nephew  Heaco  had  been  in  Normandy,  intrusted  to  the 
care  of  the  Duke  William,  as  Godwin's  hostages.  The  count 
conceived  a  desire  to  go  and  set  them  free.  The  old  king 
tried  to  persuade  Harold  to  abandon  his  project,  either  on 
account  of  his  esteem  for  him,  or  because  he  had,  as  some 
chroniclers  say,  made  a  will  in  favor  of  the  Duke  of  Normandy, 
and  wished  to  keep  this  fact  a  secret  from  Harold.  "I  will 
not  hinder  you,"  said  the  king,  "  but  if  you  go,  it  is  not 
by  my  wish,  for  your  journey  will  assuredly  bring  down  some 
misfortune  upon  our  country.  I  know  the  Duke  William  and 
his  astute  mind ;  he  hates  you,  and  will  grant  you  nothing, 
unless  he  sees  some  advantage  for  himself  in  doing  so ;  the 
way  to  make  him  give  up  the  hostages  would  be  to  send  some 
body  else." 

Harold  was  young  and  presumptuous ;  he  did  not  heed  the 
advice  of  the  old  king,  but  embarked  at  a  port  in  Sussex 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE    SAXON   AND    DANISH  KINGS.  89 

near  Bosham,  with  his  companions.  The  wind  was  unfavor 
able,  and  the  two  little  ships  were  dashed  ashore  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Somme,  in  the  dominions  of  Guy,  count  of  Pon- 
thieu.  According  to  the  usage  of  the  time,  the  crew  were 
taken  to  the  count,  who  was  entitled  to  claim  them,  and  they 
were  shut  up  in  the  citadel  of  Beaurain,  near  Montreuil. 

Harold  had  declared  himself  to  be  the  bearer  of  a  message 
from  the  king  of  England  to  the  duke  of  Normandy,  and 
William  claimed  the  prisoners  ;  but  the  count  of  Ponthieu  only 
parted  with  them  for  a  ransom.  Harold  was  taken  to  the  duke 
at  Rouen.  The  latter  received  the  Englishmen  magnificently, 
and  at  once  gave  up  to  them  the  hostages,  only  asking  Harold 
to  prolong  his  stay  in  Normandy.  The  Saxon  consented  to 
do  so,  finding  ample  amusement  in  observing  the  luxury  and 
civilized  customs  which  he  met  with  for  the  first  time  among 
the  Normans. 

The  Duke  William  had  conferred  upon  his  guests  the  spurs 
of  knighthood,  and  he  proposed  that,  in  order  to  enable  them 
to  display  their  prowess,  they  should  accompany  him  on  an 
expedition  into  Brittany.  As  long  as  the  war  lasted,  Harold 
and  William  lived  under  a  single  tent  and  dined  at  the 
same  table.  On  one  occasion,  after  the  Saxons  had  distin 
guished  themselves  by  their  warlike  feats,  the  two  chiefs  were 
returning  home  together  on  horseback.  William  was  speaking 
of  his  old  relations  with  King  Edward.  "  When  Edward  and 
I  lived  like  brothers,  under  the  same  roof,"  he  said,  "  he 
promised  me,  that  if  ever  he  should  become  king  of  England, 
he  would  make  me  heir  to  his  kingdom.  Harold,  help  me 
to  get  this  promise  fulfilled.  If  by  your  help  I  should  obtain 
the  kingdom,  rest  assured  that  whatever  you  ask  for,  I  will 
immediately  grant."  Harold,  astounded,  did  not  know  what 
to  answer.  He  stammered  a  few  words.  William  was  re 
solved  to  get  his  consent.  "Since  you  consent  to  serve  me, 

VOL.  I.  12 


90  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

you  must  undertake  to  fortify  Dover  Castle,"  he  said,  "  to 
construct  a  well  there  for  obtaining  a  supply  of  spring  water, 
and  to  surrender  it  up  to  my  soldiers.  You  must  give  up 
your  sister  to  me,  whom  I  will  give  in  marriage  to  one  of 
my  barons ;  and  you  shall  marry  my  daughter  Adela.  I 
also  wish  that,  when  you  go,  you  would  leave  one  of  the 
two  hostages  whom  you  have  claimed;  I  will  take  him  back 
to  England  when  I  go  over  there  as  king."  Harold  shud 
dered  inwardly.  He  was  at  the  duke's  mercj^,  and  he  agreed 
to  all  that  he  desired,  mentally  resolving  not  to  fulfil  his 
promises.  He  did  not  know  the  Norman  and  his  far-sighted 
schemes. 

They  were  at  Avranches  (some  say  at  Bayeux),  and  the 
Norman  barons  were  convoked  in  a  great  assembly.  The 
Saxon  was  there  by  the  side  of  the  duke  ;  a  mass-book  was 
brought  and  placed  upon  a  stool  covered  with  a  golden  cloth. 
Suddenly  William  exclaimed,  "  Harold,  I  call  upon  you,  before 
this  noble  assembly,  to  confirm  on  oath  all  that  you  have  prom 
ised  to  do  to  help  me  to  obtain  the  kingdom  of  England  after 
the  death  of  King  Edward."  The  Englishman  was  again  taken 
by  surprise,  and  was  in  great  peril.  He  advanced  slowly,  and 
swore,  with  his  hand  on  the  book,  to  perform  the  promises 
made  to  the  Duke,  provided  that  he  were  alive  and  that  God 
should  help  him  to  do  so.  All  the  Normans  cried  out,  "  May 
the  Lord  help  him ! "  Then,  at  a  sign  from  William,  the 
rich  cloth  was  removed,  and  the  Saxon  discovered  that  he 
had  sworn  upon  a  receptacle  filled  with  precious  relics  which 
had  been  brought,  by  order  of  the  duke,  from  all  the  neigh 
boring  convents.  William  did  not  detain  Harold  any  longer. 
He  left  the  country,  taking  his  nephew  with  him ;  but  his 
brother  remained  in  the  power  of  the  Normans. 

"  Did  I  not  warn  you  that  I  knew  William  ? "  said  the 
old  King  Edward  when  Harold  related  to  him  what  had  hap- 


'THE  ENGLISHMAN  SWORE  WITH   HIS  HAND  ON   THE  BOOK.' 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON    AND    DANISH   KINGS.  91 

pened ;  and  lie  added  sadly,  "  May  none  of  these  misfortunes 
happen  in  my  lifetime  ! " 

The  death  of  the  king  was  destined  to  be  the  signal  for 
England's  misfortunes  to  recommence,  and  he  was  becoming 
weaker  every  day.  Sinister  reports  had  been  circulated.  Old 
prophecies  were  recalled  which  threatened  England  with  in 
vasion  and  subjugation  by  a  foreign  people.  The  king  him 
self,  constantly  occupied  with  his  devotional  practices,  saw 
fearful  visions  in  his  dreams,  and  would  cry  out,  with  a  vague 
remembrance  of  biblical  imagery,  "  The  Lord  has  stretched 
His  bow  ;  He  has  unsheathed  His  sword ;  He  moves  and  bran 
dishes  it  like  a  warrior ;  His  wrath  shall  be  manifested  through 
fire  and  by  sword."  His  servants  shuddered  at  these  threat 
ening  prophecies  ;  but  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Stigand, 
only  laughed.  "  Dreams  of  the  sick  old  man,"  he  would  say. 

It  is  said  that,  before  dying,  Edward  designated  Harold  to 
the  members  of  the  Wittenagemot  as  his  successor ;  other  chron 
iclers  (the  Norman  writers)  maintain,  on  the  contrary,  that 
when  Harold  and  his  relations  presented  themselves  in  the 
king's  chamber,  the  latter  said  in  a  feeble  whisper,  "  You 
know,  my  thanes,  that  I  have  bequeathed  my  kingdom  to 
the  duke  of  Normandy ;  do  I  not  here  see  men  who  have 
sworn  to  uphold  his  rights  ?  "  Whatever  the  dying  man  may 
have  wished,  the  opinion  of  the  English  chiefs  was  not  to  be 
mistaken.  Scarcely  had  Edward  the  Confessor  been  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  which  he  had  built  in  place  of  per 
forming  the  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  when  the  Wittenagemot  pro 
claimed  as  king  of  England  Harold,  the  son  of  Godwin,  and 
grandson  of  the  herdsman  Ulfuoth,  overlooking  in  his  favor 
the  rights  of  Edgar  Atheling,  son  of  Edward  Atheling,  and 
grandson  of  Edmund  Ironsides,  as  well  as  the  more  formidable 
pretensions  of  the  duke  of  Normandy. 

Harold's   first   care   was  to  eradicate   from  the  kingdom  all 


92  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

traces  of  the  Norman  innovations  introduced  by  King  Ed 
ward  ;  the  ancient  Saxon  signature  replaced,  in  the  acts^  the 
seals  introduced  from  Normandy,  and  the  Norman  favorites, 
whom  Edward  affectionately  protected  to  the  last,  were  de 
prived  of  their  offices,  though  without  being  exiled  or  having 
their  property  confiscated.  It  was  through  them  that  the 
Duke  \Villiam  heard  of  the  death  of  Edward  and  of  the  elec 
tion  of  Harold.  He  was  in  a  park,  near  Rouen,  trying  a  new 
bow,  when  the  important  news  reached  him.  He  stopped 
immediately,  gave  his  bow  to  his  servants,  and  went  back  to 
Rouen.  He  walked  up  and  down  the  great  hall  in  his  palace, 
sat  and  rose  alternately,  and  was  quite  unable  to  remain  still. 
His  friends  looked  at  him  in  silence  without  daring  to  accost 
him.  At  length  one  of  them,  who  was  on  more  familiar  terms 
with  him  than  most  of  the  others,  approached  him.  "  My 
lord,"  he  said,  "  of  what  use  is  it  to  keep  your  news  from 
us  ?  It  is  rumored  in  the  town  that  the  king  of  England  is 
dead,  and  that  Harold  has  taken  possession  of  the  kingdom, 
unfaithful  to  his  plighted  word  to  you."  "  That  is  true," 
answered  the  duke,  "  and  my  grief  is  caused  as  much  by 
the  death  of  Edward  as  by  the  wrong  which  Harold  has 
done  me."  "  There  is  no  remedy  for  Edward's  death,"  re 
plied  the  Norman,  "but  there  is  for  Harold's  infidelity;  yours 
is  the  just  cause  and  yours  are  the  willing  soldiers ;  a  thing 
well  begun  is  half  done." 

William's  courtiers  were  not  the  only  persons  to  advise  him 
to  support  his  pretensions  by  force  of  arms.  Harold's  own 
brother,  Tostig,  who  had  been  driven  from  Northumbria,  and 
whom  his  brother  had  failed  to  re-establish  in  his  government, 
came  from  Flanders  to  offer  his  help  to  the  duke  of  Norman 
dy  in  attempting  the  conquest  of  England.  William  was  too 
prudent  to  undertake  the  invasion  without  premeditation ;  he 
presented  ships  to  Tostig,  who  went  to  Denmark  to  seek  the 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE    SAXON    AND   DANISH  KINGS.  93 

support  of  King  Sweyn.  Upon  meeting  with  a  refusal  from 
the  Dane,  Tostig  repaired  to  Norway.  The  king  of  that 
country  was  Harold  Hardrada,  son  of  Sigurd,  a  great  voyager 
and  corsair,  who  had  formerly  extended  his  excursions  as  far 
as  the  seas  of  Sicily,  and  who  on  one  occasion  on  his  return 
had  married  a  Russian  princess.  He  was  a  poet,  and  would 
sing  on  board  his  black  vessel,  laden  with  his  warriors,  who 
were  a  source  of  great  terror  to  all  peaceful  people.  Tostig 
approached  him  with  flattery.  "  The  whole  world  knows," 
he  said,  "  that  there  is  not  in  the  North  a  warrior  who  is 
your  equal ;  you  have  only  to  wish  it,  and  England  is  yours." 
The  Norwegian  allowed  himself  to  be  seduced,  and  promised 
to  put  to  sea  as  soon  as  the  ice  should  thaw  and  make  the 
ocean  navigable. 

While  Tostig  was  trying  his  strength  on  the'  coast  of  Nor- 
thumbria  with  a  band  of  adventurers,  William,  careful  to 
have  on  his  side  all  the  appearances  of  right,  sent  a  message 
to  Harold  as  follows: — "  William,  Duke  of  Normandy,  reminds 
you  of  the  oath  which  you  swore  with  your  own  lips  and 
with  your  hand  upon  good  and  holy  relics."  "  It  is  true," 
answered  Harold,  "  but  I  swore  under  constraint,  not  being 
free,  and  I  promised  what  did  not  belong  to  me  ;  besides,  my 
services  belong  to  my  country,  and  I  could  not  give  up  my 
position  to  anybody  else  without  its  consent,  nor  marry  a 
foreigner.  As  to  my  sister,  whom  the  duke  claims  for  one 
of  his  chiefs,  she  died  during  this  year.  Does  he  wish  me 
to  send  her  body  to  him  ? "  A  second  message,  still  calm 
and  moderate,  urged  Harold  at  least  to  marry  the  Norman 
princess ;  but  the  king  answered  that  he  would  not  do  so, 
and  soon  afterwards  he  chose  a  Saxon  wife,  a  sister  of  Edwin 
and  Morcar,  the  two  sons  of  Elfgar,  count  of  Mercia.  Wil 
liam's  anger  at  length  burst  forth,  and  reproaching  Harold 
bitterly  for  his  perjury,  he  declared  that  he  would  come  before 


94  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IV. 

the  end  of  the  year  to  exact  pa}7ment  of  the  whole  of  his 
debt,  and  to  pursue  the  perfidious  Saxon  even  into  the  places 
wherein  he  considered  his  hold  to  be  firmest.  While  await 
ing  the  help  of  his  allies  from  the  North,  William  was  aware 
of  the  importance  of  conciliating  public  opinion  in  Europe,  or 
at  least  in  that  portion  of  Europe  where  the  people  were  not 
altogether  ignorant  of  what  was  happening  in  England  and 
in  Normandy.  No  influence  was  stronger  than  that  of  the 
Church  for  obtaining  the  good  will  of  the  people.  The  Eng 
lish  were  not  in  favor  at  Rome.  They  had  refused  to  receive 
Robert  of  Jumieges,  a  Norman  priest,  raised  to  the  see  of 
Canterbury  by  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  the  chapter  had 
chosen  in  his  stead  the  Saxon  Stigand,  who  was  still  under 
excommunication  from  Rome  under  pretence  that  he  had 
been  guilty  of  simony.  The  Saxon  Church  had  often  shown 
itself  to  be  somewhat  insubordinate,  and  the  clergy  had 
been  accused  of  laxity  in  performing  their  duties.  William 
caused  these  facts  to  be  represented  at  Rome,  besides  em 
ploying  many  other  arguments.  He  had  sent  Lanfranc  thither, 
a  priest  of  Italian  extraction,  whom  he  had  made  abbot  of 
St.  Stephen's  at  Caen,  and  who  by  reason  of  his  clever 
and  prudent  mind  was  enabled  to  render  important  services 
to  his  master.  Harold  had  sent  no  ambassador  to  this  tri-' 
bunal,  whose  jurisdiction  he  did  not  recognize  in  temporal 
affairs ;  his  perjury  was  strongly  denounced  there,  and  Pope 
Alexander  II.  declared  that  William  of  Normandy,  cousin 
of  King  Edward,  and  consequently  his  heir,  could  legitimately 
style  himself  King  of  England,  and  seize  upon  the  kingdom. 
The  king  received  this  permission  sealed  by  the  Pope,  with 
a  holy  standard  and  a  ring  containing  a  hair  of  St.  Peter 
inclosed  in  a  diamond. 

Strong  in  the  support  of  the  Pope,  to  whom  he  had  prom 
ised  to  place  England  again  under  the  authority  of  the  Holy 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON   AND   DANISH  KINGS.  95 

See,  and  to  cause  the  Peter's  pence  to  be  levied  there  annu 
ally,  as  Canute  had  done,  William  began  his  preparations  for 
the  conquest.  The  Normans  were  a  free  people ;  they  were 
still  conscious  of  their  rude  origin,  but  nevertheless  accustomed 
to  be  consulted  in  their  own  affairs.  The  Duke  called  together 
all  his  most  intimate  friends,  his  two  maternal  brothers,  Odo, 
Bishop  of  Bayeux  and  Count  Mortaign,  also  the  friend  of  his 
childhood,  William  Fitz-Osbern,  the  seneschal  of  Normandy. 
All  encouraged  him  in  his  project.  "  But,"  they  said,  "  you 
must  ask  help  and  advice  of  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants 
of  this  country,  for  it  is  right  that  whoever  pays  should  be 
invited  to  consent  to  the  expenditure." 

William  was  hot-tempered  and  haughty,  but  prudent  and 
sensible.  He  convoked  at  Lillebonne  a  great  assembly  of  men 
from  every  state  of  Normandy,  the  richest  and  most  esteemed 
of  their  class.  He  unfolded  his  plans  to  them,  and  they  retired 
to  discuss  them  at  their  ease,  out  of  the  presence  of  the  Duke. 

The  excitement  was  great  and  the  opinions  various.  Wil 
liam  Fitz-Osbern  appeared  in  the  midst  of  the  groups.  "  Why 
do  you  discuss  together  ?  "  he  exclaimed.  "  He  is  your  lord, 
and  he  has  need  of  your  services ;  your  duty  would  be  to 
make  offers  to  him,  and  not  to  wait  until  he  asks  for  any 
thing.  If  you  fail  him,  and  he  attains  his  object  by  the 
will  of  God,  he  will  not  forget  it ;  show,  therefore,  that  you 
love  him  and  support  him  with  a  will."  Low  murmurs  were 
heard ;  the  opposition  was  beginning  to  burst  forth.  "  No 
doubt  he  is  our  lord,"  they  said;  "but  is  it  not  enough  for 
him  that  we  should  pay  his  taxes?  We  do  not  owe  him 
any  assistance  for  his  foreign  excursions ;  he  has  already 
oppressed  us  too  much  by  his  wars;  if  his  new  enterprise 
should  fail,  our  country  would  be  ruined."  The  offers 
accordingly  were  few,  when  Fitz-Osbern  was  instructed  to 
communicate  them  to  William. 


96  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

The  assembly  re-entered  the  room  wherein  the  Duke  sat. 
The  seneschal  advanced.  "  Sire,"  he  said,  "  I  do  not  think 
that  there  are  in  the  world  men  more  zealous  than  these. 
You  know  how  many  burdens  they  have  already  borne  for  you  ? 
Well,  they  propose  to  add  another,  and  to  follow  you  to  the 
other  side  of  the  sea,  as  they  do  on  this  side.  Push  onward, 
then,  and  fear  nothing ;  whoever  has  hitherto  only  supplied 
you  with  two  good  soldiers  on  horseback  is  willing  to  bear 
double  the  expense."  The  seneschal  was  interrupted  by  a 
hundred  voices,  crying,  "  We  did  not  commission  you  to  make 
such  an  answer  as  that.  Let  him  remain  in  his  own  terri 
tory,  and  we  will  serve  him  as  we  should  do  ;  but  we  are  not 
compelled  to  help  him  to  conquer  another  people's  country. 
Besides,  if  we  were  for  once  to  do  him  this  service,  he  would 
expect  it  as  a  right  ever  afterwards,  and  would  thereby  op 
press  our  children ;  it  shall  not  be."  And  the  assembly  dis 
persed  in  anger. 

The  Duke  sent  for  the  noblemen,  one  after  the  other,  as 
well  as  the  abbots  and  the  merchants :  he  showed  his  plans 
to  them,  asked  for  their  support  as  a  personal  favor  which 
should  not  compromise  their  liberty  in  any  way  in  future, 
and  by  degrees  he  obtained  what  he  wanted.  The  merchants 
promised  vessels  and  armed  warriors,  the  priests  gave  money, 
and  the  barons  placed  themselves  and  their  vassals  at  his 
disposition.  The  preparations  began  forthwith  in  all  the  Nor 
man  towns  ;  adventurers  were  everywhere  crowding  round 
William,  "  who  slighted  nobody,"  according  to  the  chronicles, 
"  and  was  always  ready  to  oblige  people  as  far  as  he  was 
able."  He  promised  lands,  castles,  women,  plunder ;  he  even 
sold  an  English  bishopric  to  a  certain  Remi,  of  Fecamp,  for 
a  ship  and  twenty  warriors. 

While  the  noise  of  hammers  was  resounding  throughout 
all  the  shipyards  of  Normandy,  the  ice  had  thawed  in  the 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON  AND    DANISH   KINGS.  97 

Baltic,  and  Harold  Hardrada  had  set  sail  with  his  sea-serpents. 
He  had  been  joined  by  Tostig,  and  had  ascended  the  Humber 
and  the  Ouse,  causing  great  destruction  on  his  way.  A  cer 
tain  number  of  Englishmen  had  rallied  round  the  standard 
of  Tostig.  Edwin  and  Morcar  marched  to  oppose  the  allies, 
but  they  were  repulsed  with  loss.  The  citizens  of  York, 
fearing  an  assault,  promised  to  surrender.  The  Norwegians 
were  already  celebrating  the  victory  in  their  camp. 

It  was  in  the  early  morning,  and  Hardrada  and  Tostig, 
with  a  small  body  of  troops,  were  advancing  towards  York 
to  hold  an  interview  with  the  chiefs  of  the  town.  Count 
ing  upon  the  terror  which  they  inspired  among  the  peaceful 
citizens,  they  were  but  half  armed ;  Harold  Hardrada  had  left 
his  halbert  in  his  tent,  and  wore  a  blue  tunic  embroidered 
with  gold,  and  a  helmet  ornamented  with  precious  stones. 
Suddenly  a  cloud  of  dust,  which  was  rising  in  the  horizon, 
cleared  away  and  revealed  a  forest  of  lances.  It  was  King 
Harold,  whom  the  invaders  believed  to  be  in  the  South 
watching  the  movements  of  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  and  who 
had  come  by  forced  marches  to  encounter  them.  The  golden 
dragon  of  Wessex  was  displayed  on  his  standard. 

The  position  of  the  Norwegian,  Hardrada,  was  critical,  but 
his  courage  did  not  desert  him.  Planting  in  the  ground  his 
banner,  the  motto  on  which  was  "  The  despoiler  of  the  world," 
he  drew  up  around  it  all  his  forces  at  the  foot  of  Stamford 
Bridge.  Here  he  was  riding  back  and  forth  in  front  of 
his  soldiers,  when  his  horse  stumbled  and  he  fell.  "  A  good 
omen ! "  he  cried,  when  he  saw  the  faces  of  the  pirates 
darken.  His  soldiers,  resting  their  lances  on  the  ground, 
with  their  points  in  the  direction  of  the  enemy,  awaited 
the  onslaught  of  the  English.  Hardrada  rode  between  the 
ranks,  singing  an  improvised  "  skald."  "  Let  us  fight,"  he 
said ;  "let  us  march,  although  without  any  breastplates  be- 

VOL.  I.  13 


98  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IV. 

neath  the  edges  of  the  blue  steel ;  our  helmets  glisten  in  the 
sun ;  they  are  sufficient  for  brave  warriors." 

The  English  were  contemplating  these  valiant  preparations. 
A  small  band  of  men  had  detached  themselves  from  the  body 
of  the  army.  "Where  is  Earl  Tostig,  son  of  Godwin?" 
asked  one  of  the  warriors  clad  in  steel.  "  He  is  here  ! " 
cried  Tostig  himself,  stepping  out  from  the  ranks.  "  Your 
brother  salutes  you,"  rejoined  the  Saxon;  "he  offers  you 
peace,  friendship,  and  your  former  honors."  "This  is  a  sen 
sible  offer,"  said  Tostig ;  "  and  if  my  brother  had  made  it 
a  year  ago,  he  would  have  spared  the  lives  of  many  brave  men. 
And  what  does  he  offer  to  .my  noble  ally,  King  Harold, 
son  of  Sigurd  ? "  "  Seven  feet  of  English  soil,"  haughtily 
replied  the  warrior,  contemplating  the  Norwegian's  huge  per 
son  ;  "  a  little  more,  perhaps,  for  he  is  taller  than  most  men." 
"  Then,"  cried  Tostig,  "  my  brother,  King  Harold,  may  pre 
pare  for  the  fray.  It  shall  not  be  said  that  the  son  of  Godwin 
abandoned  the  son  of  Sigurd." 

The  Saxons  retired  slowly.  Tostig  was  still  looking  fixedly 
at  his  antagonist.  "Who  is  the  warrior  with  such  a  proud 
tongue  ?  "  asked  Hardrada.  "  King  Harold,  son  of  Godwin," 
said  Tostig.  "Why  did  you  not  tell  me  so?"  cried  Har 
drada  ;  "he  would  not  have  lived  to  boast  of  having  defeated 
us."  He  then  added,  "  He  is  little,  but  he  sits  firmly  in 
the  saddle."  At  the  same  moment,  King  Harold  was  asking 
his  companions  whether  this  gigantic  warrior  clad  in  blue 
was  really  the  formidable  sovereign  of  the  seas.  It  is  the 
same,  they  told  him.  "  He  is  a  powerful  man,"  replied  Harold, 
thoughtfully,  "  but  I  think  his  good  fortune  has  deserted 
him." 

The  battle  began  ;  Hardrada  was  killed  almost  immediately 
by  an  arrow  which  pierced  his  throat.  Tostig  took  command 
of  the  army.  Harold  sent  proposals  for  peace  a  second  time 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON  AND   DANISH  KINGS.  99 

for  Tostig  and  the  Norwegians.  "  We  will  owe  nothing  to  the 
Saxons,"  cried  the  Norwegians,  and  the  struggle  recommenced. 
Tostig  was  killed  in  his  turn,  and  great  havoc  was  made  among 
his  men.  The  "  despoiler  of  the  world"  was  now  surrounded 
but  by  a  small  number  of  warriors.  They  at  length  pulled  up 
their  precious  standard,  and  slowly,  defending  themselves  step 
by  step,  they  regained  the  road  leading  to  their  vessels.  A 
stout  Norwegian  had  taken  up  his  stand  upon  Stamford  Bridge, 
covering  the  retreat  of  his  comrades.  They  had  nearly  all 
passed  the  bridge,  taking  with  them  young  Olof,  son  of  Har- 
drada,  when  an  English  soldier,  pushing  his  lance  through  a 
crevice  in  the  timber,  killed  the  valiant  defender.  The  Scan 
dinavian  vessels  unfurled  their  sails,  and  returned  to  Norway 
to  spread  the  sad  news  of  a  defeat,  indicated  beforehand  by 
the  gloomy  predictions  of  the  soldiers,  who  had  seen  in  their 
dreams  a  woman  of  gigantic  stature  seated  on  a  wolf,  and  rush 
ing  along  their  ranks,  making  at  each  step  a  fresh  corpse  for 
the  ferocious  animal  to  devour. 

Harold  did  not  attempt  to  pursue  the  Norwegians  on  sea ; 
he  was  recalled  southward  by  the  near  approach  of  his  great 
peril.  William  had  assembled  all  his  forces  on  the  coast  of 
Normandy,  almost  without  any  foreign  help.  The  king  of 
France,  Philip  I.,  had  refused  to  give  him  any  assistance, 
although  the  Duke  had  proposed  to  do  homage  to  him  when 
he  should  obtain  possession  of  England.  "  You  know,"  the 
French  barons  had  said  to  the  king,  "  how  little  the  Normans 
obey  you  now  ;  they  will  obey  you  still  less  if  they  conquer 
England,  and  if  they  fail  in  their  enterprise,  having  assisted 
them  we  shall  make  enemies  of  the  English  people  for  ever 
afterwards." 

The  fleet  and  the  army  had  been  lying  together  for  more 
than  a  month  at  Dive  ;  the  wind  was  unfavorable,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  sail  out  of  port.  The  south  wind  at  length 


100  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  IV. 

rose,  and  drove  the  vessels  to  Saint-Vale*ry-en-Caux,  and  then 
the  bad  weather  began  again.  Several  ships  were  dashed  to 
pieces,  and  their  crews  perished.  In  the  army  the  men  were 
murmuring.  "There  has  been  no  fighting,"  they  said,  "and 
yet  there  are  already  some  men  killed."  The  Duke  caused 
the  sands  to  be  watched,  in  order  that  the  dead  bodies  thrown 
up  by  the  sea  might  be  buried  immediately ;  and  he  allowed 
good  cheer  to  his  soldiers  to  induce  them  to  wait  patiently. 
He  sent  for  the  relics  from  the  church  of  Saint- Vale*ry,  which 
were  carried  through  the  camp  with  great  pomp.  At  length 
a  propitious  wind  arose;  all  the  sails  were  unfurled,  and  four 
hundred  large  ships  and  a  thousand  transport-vessels  sped 
away  from  land.  The  Duke's  ship  was  at  the  head  of  them, 
bearing  on  the  foremast  the  banner  sent  by  the  Pope;  the 
sails  of  various  colors  were  flying  in  the  wind.  The  Duke's 
vessel  soon  left  all  the  others  behind ;  at  daybreak  he  found 
himself  alone.  He  sent  a  sailor  to  the  masthead.  "  I  only 
see  the  sky  and  the  sea,"  cried  the  sailor ;  but  a  short  time 
afterwards  he  reported  four  vessels  in  sight,  and  the  Duke 
had  not  taken  his  breakfast  before  a  forest  of  masts  and 
sails  was  discovered. 

It  was  a  fine  morning,  on  the  28th  of  September,  1066 ; 
Harold's  vessels,  which  had  been  cruising  along  the  coast  dur 
ing  a  whole  month,  had  put  in  to  land  on  the  previous  even 
ing,  being  short  of  provisions.  The  fleet  of  the  Normans  ap 
proached,  therefore,  without  resistance,  and  landed  in  Sussex, 
at  Bulverhithe,  between  Pevensey  and  Hastings.  The  archers 
landed  first,  then  the  horsemen,  and  lastly  the  pioneers  car 
rying  their  tools  and  wood  ready  prepared  for  the  fortifica 
tion  of  their  camp.  The  Duke  was  the  last  to  set  foot  on 
English  soil,  after  superintending  the  disembarkation  of  his 
men.  Immediately  upon  stepping  down,  he  stumbled  and 
fell,  smearing  his  hands  with  dirt.  A  shudder  ran  along 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON   AND   DANISH  KINGS.  101 

the  ranks.  "  What  ails  you  ? "  cried  the  Duke,  who  had 
instantly  sprung  to  his  feet.  "  I  have  seized  the  land  with 
my  hands,  and  by  the  splendor  of  God,  throughout  its  length 
and  breadth,  it  is  yours."  They  were  reassured  at  these 
words ;  a  camp  was  at  once  planned  and  fortified  with 
wooden  castles,  after  the  French  fashion,  and  bands  of  sol 
diers  overran  the  neighborhood,  ravaging  and  laying  waste 
the  country. 

Harold  was  still  at  Stamford,  resting  after  the  fatigues  of 
the  campaign  against  the  Norwegians,  when  a  messenger,  in 
an  exhausted  and  breathless  condition,  burst  into  the  room 
where  he  was  at  supper.  "  The  enemy,"  he  cried,  "  the 
enemy  has  landed ! "  Harold  rose,  knowing  the  time  had 
come ;  he  knew  William  and  the  Normans  sufficiently  well  to 
feel  confident  that  the  struggle  would  be  fierce  and  prolonged. 

Time  was  precious.  Harold  was  accustomed  to  make  forced 
marches,  and  he  accordingly  started  for  London,  ordering  on 
his  road  all  the  earls  and  freemen  to  rally  round  his  stand 
ard.  The  whole  country  rose  at  his  command,  and  large 
forces  were  being  organized  in  different  parts.  "  In  four 
days  the  Saxon  will  have  a  hundred  thousand  men  at  his 
side,"  William  was  informed  by  one  of  those  Normans  for 
merly  established  in  England  during  the  reign  of  King  Ed 
ward,  who  served  him  as  spies.  But  some  time  was  neces 
sary  to  bring  together  these  confused  masses  of  men,  and  to 
assemble  them  at  a  given  point.  Harold,  in  his  haste,  had 
not  given  them  time  to  do  so.  He  had  arrived  in  London  ; 
his  mother  Gytha  found  his  army  worn  out,  and  very  small 
for  opposing  so  formidable  an  enemy.  "  Do  not  risk  a  battle, 
my  son,"  she  said;  "let  the  Normans  pursue  their  ravages 
in  the  country,  and  famine  will  rid  you  of  them."  Harold 
trembled  with  indignation.  "  Would  you  have  me  ruin  my 
kingdom  ?  "  he  said.  "  By  my  faith,  it  would  be  treason.  I 


102  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IV. 

prefer  to  put  my  trust  in  the  strength  of  my  arm  and  the 
justice  of  my  cause."  His  young  brother,  Gurth,  persisted, 
for  the  oath  made  to  the  Duke  William  weighed  upon  his 
conscience.  "  Either  under  constraint,  or  by  your  own  free 
will,"  he  said,  "you  swore,  and  your  oath  will  paralyze  your 
arm  during  the  conflict.  We  have  promised  nothing;  leave 
us  to  defend  the  kingdom.  You  shall  avenge  us  if  we 
should  be  killed."  Harold  smiled  bitterly  at  the  remembrance 
of .  the  Duke's  perfidy  ;  but  he  was  inflexible,  and  he  started 
the  same  day  for  Hastings  with  a  force  very  much  less  than 
that  of  William. 

King  Harold's  first  idea  was  to  suddenly  attack  the  enemy, 
who  had  been  intrenched  during  a  fortnight  in  their  camp; 
but  the  Normans  were  well  guarded ;  their  defences  had  been 
skilfully  constructed,  and  the.  Saxon  therefore  -abandoned  his 
project,  and,  selecting  also  a  strong  position  upon  a  hill  near 
Hastings,  he  fortified  it  in  the  fashion  of  his  country  with 
a  triple  line  of  palisades,  and  a  rampart  of  interwoven  branches 
which  was  to  protect  the  bulk  of  his  army  when  the  first  line 
should  have  passed  outside  the  stakes  to  defend  the  approaches 
to  the  camp. 

Harold  was  uneasy ;  very  few  troops  had  had  time  to  join 
him,  and  the  Norman  army  was  as  strong  as  it  was  well  dis 
ciplined.  He,  however,  laughed  aloud  when  three  Saxon  spies, 
who  had  penetrated  into  William's  camp,  came  and  informed 
him  that,  having  been  recognized  and  taken  over  the  camp 
by  order  of  the  Duke,  they  had  seen  more  priests  than  war 
riors  in  the  Norman  army.  They  had  mistaken  for  priests  all 
the  warriors  who  had  closely-shaven  faces  and  short  hair, 
for  the  English  at  that  time  wore  long  flowing  hair  and  long 
moustaches.  "  All  those  priests  are  good  warriors,"  said  the 
king,  "  and  you  will  shortly  see  them  at  work." 

William  did  not  yet  begin  the   attack.     A  Norman  monk 


WILLIAM  THE   CONQUEROR   REVIEWING  HIS   ARMY. 


CHAP.  IV.]       THE   SAXON  AND   DANISH  KINGS.  103 

presented  himself  in  Harold's  camp.  "  The  Duke  William 
makes  three  proposals,"  said  he :  "  first,  that  you  give  up 
your  kingdom  to  him ;  secondly,  that  the  matter  be  sub 
mitted  to  the  Pope ;  or,  lastly,  to  decide  the  quarrel  by  single 
combat."  "  I  will  not  give  up  my  kingdom,  I  will  not  put 
the  matter  in  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  and  I  refuse  the  challenge 
to  fight,"  replied  Harold  curtly.  The  monk  returned  to  the 
Norman  camp  ;  but  he  soon  reappeared,  bearing  another  mes 
sage  :  "  If  you  will  be  faithful  to  your  compact  with  him,  the 
Duke  will  allow  you  to  keep  possession  of  all  the  country 
north  of  the  Humber,  and  will  give  to  your  brother  Gurth 
the  land  which  was  formerly  held  by  Godwin.  If  you  refuse,  / 
you  are  a  perjurer  and  a  liar,  and  all  who  fight  for  you  shall 
be  excommunicated  by  the  Pope." 

The  Saxon  chiefs  looked  at  each  other ;  but  the  love  of 
liberty  was  stronger  than  their  religious  fears.  "  The  Norman 
has  given  away  everything  beforehand  to  his  soldiers,"  they 
said,  "  both  land  and  goods.  Where  should  we  go,  if  we 
should  lose  our  country  ?  "  And  they  resolved  to  die  fighting 
to  the  last. 

The  night  of  the  13th  of  October,  1066,  was  passed  very 
differently  in  the  two  camps.  William's  strict  discipline 
only  allowed  religious  music  or  devotional  practices.  After 
the  fashion  of  the  ancient  Saxons  and  of  the  Danes,  whose 
blood  had  become  mixed  with  theirs,  the  English  soldiers  were 
eating,  laughing,  and  singing  warlike  songs.  At  daybreak, 
after  holy  mass  had  been  celebrated,  the  Normans  issued  from 
their  camp.  They  were  divided  into  three  bodies,  all  pre 
ceded  by  archers.  The  Duke  was  mounted  on  a  Barbary 
horse  which  he  had  brought  from  Spain.  He  bore  on  his  neck, 
in  a  golden  casket,  one  of  the  relics  upon  which  Harold  had 
sworn  the  oath,  as  a  silent  witness  of  the  latter's  perfidy.  By 
his  side  a  young  cavalier,  Toustain  le  Blanc,  was  holding  up 


104  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IV. 

aloft  the  standard  sent  by  the  Pope.  Odo,  bishop  of  Bayeux, 
was  marching  through  the  ranks  mounted  upon  his  great  white 
horse,  and  wearing  a  breastplate  and  helmet. 

"See  how  well  he  rides,"  said  the  Normans,  looking  at 
William.  "He  is  a  graceful  duke,  and  will  be  a  graceful  king." 
And  they  advanced  joyfully  behind  him. 

At  seven  o'clock  the  attack  on  the  Saxon  camp  began. 
Taillefer,  the  knight-minstrel  of  the  Norman  army,  was  march 
ing  in  front,  singing  the  song  of  Roland.  The  Normans  cried, 
"  Our  Lady,  help  us  ! "  The  monks  who  had  come  with  them 
to  the  field  of  battle  had  retired  to  pray. 

Three  times  the  Normans  were  repulsed.  It  was  noon.  In 
spite  of  the  arrows  of  the  archers,  which  inflicted  great 
losses  on  the  Saxons,  and  one  of  which  had  destroyed  Harold's 
left  eye,  the  English  camp  held  good  at  all  points.  The 
Duke's  horse  had  been  killed  during  an  assault ;  a  rumor  had 
gone  forth  that  William  was  dead ;  but,  immediately  taking 
off  his  helmet,  and  showing  himself  bareheaded  to  his  wavering 
soldiers,  he  cried  out,  "  Here  I  am !  Look  at  me ;  I  am 
living,  and  I  will  conquer,  with  God's  help."  Some  were 
already  taking  to  flight;  these  he  held  back  with  his  long 
lance,  and  reconducted  to  the  attack  on  the  enemy's  camp. 
All  the  defenders  of  the  rampart  were  killed,  but  the  twig 
hurdles  still  protected  the  bulk  of  the  Saxon  army.  The  Nor 
mans  pretended  to  fly  ;  the  Saxons  rushed  forth  in  pursuit  of 
them,  and  were  all  killed.  The  reserve  could  no  longer  resist ; 
the  Normans  therefore  beat  down  the  barrier,  and  entered 
sword  in  hand. 

Around  Harold's  banner,  his  chosen  warriors  had  formed 
themselves  into  a  compact  circle,  the  "  ring  of  death  "  as  the 
Danes  called  it.  Harold  was  there  with  his  two  brothers, 
Gurth  and  Leofwin.  The  fight  recommenced  furiously  between 
the  Normans  and  these  brave  men  :  not  one  of  them  receded ,- 


CHAP.  IV.]      THE   SAXON   AND   DANISH  KINGS.  105 

the  heaps  of  bodies  of  the  slain  Normans  formed  a  rampart 
for  them,  when  twenty  of  their  foes  advanced  together.  They 
had  sworn  to  cut  a  passage  through  the  English  or  to  perish 
to  a  man.  Ten  of  them  fell,  but  the  ranks  of  the  Saxons 
remained  unbroken.  William  rushed  to  the  attack,  followed 
by  his  best  warriors.  The  English  soldiers  were  dying  at 
their  posts,  immovable  as  the  oaks  in  their  forests.  Gurth 
was  dead,  Leofwin  was  dying,  bathed  in  blood,  and  Harold 
alone  was  still  fighting  at  the  foot  of  his  banner.  At  sunset 
he  fell,  in  his  turn,  and  the  standard  of  the  Pope  replaced 
the  golden  Dragon  of  Wessex.  All  the  English  earls  were 
stretched  upon  the  field  of  battle,  and  the  few  Saxons  who 
still  remained  were  slowly  retreating;  yet  so  dauntless  were 
they,  even  in  defeat,  that  the  Normans  did  not  dare  to  dis 
perse  while  it  was  still  dark.  Eustace  of  Boulogne,  speaking 
to  Duke  William,  was  struck  down  by  an  unexpected  blow. 

On  the  morrow,  at  daybreak,  Godwin's  widow,  whom  Wil 
liam's  pretensions  to  the  English  crown  had  deprived  of  four 
sons,  came  and  asked  permission  to  take  away  the  bodies  of 
her  relations.  Gurth  and  Leofwin  had  fallen  together  at  the 
foot  of  the  banner.  No  one  could  find  the  body  of  Harold. 
His  own  mother  could  not  distinguish  him,  but  was  obliged 
to  send  for  "  Swan-necked "  Edith,  whom  her  son  had  loved. 
Edith  pointed  to  a  body  covered  with  wounds  and  disfigured 
by  sword-thrusts.  "  That  is  Harold !  "  she  said.  He  was 
borne  with  his  brothers  to  Waltham  Abbey,  where  he  was 
buried  beneath  a  stone  bearing  simply  this  inscription :  "  In- 
felix  Harold." 

VOL.  I.  14 


106  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  V. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE   NORMANS  IN  ENGLAND. 

1066-1087. 

KING  HAROLD  was  dead,  but  England  was  not  sub 
dued.  The  Wittenagemot  had  already  reassembled 
in  London  to  choose  a  new  leader  for  resistance  to  the  inva 
sion.  The  sons  of  Harold  were  still  children  ;  and  in  accord 
ance  with  a  passion  for  hereditary  right  remarkable  in  a  country 
which  had  often  rejected  that  principle,  the  popular  assembly 
chose  Edgar  Atheling,  a  grand-nephew  of  Edward  the  Con 
fessor,  to  receive  the  perilous  title  of  King  of  England.  But 
Edgar  was  young,  his  intellect  was  feeble,  and  the  chiefs  who 
surrounded  him  were  haughty  and  insubordinate.  Stigand, 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  still  endeavoring  to  organ 
ize  the  army,  with  the  assistance  of  the  earls  Edwin  and 
Morcar,  when  the  approach  of  the  Normans  rendered  it  neces 
sary  to  make  an  immediate  effort.  After  leaving  Hastings, 
near  which  town  he  afterwards  built  Battle  Abbey,  the  Con 
queror  had  begun  his  march  upon  London.  The  city  was 
well  defended :  after  a  slight  attack  William  set  fire  to  South- 
wark,  and  spreading  his  troops  over  the  country,  pillaged  the 
domains  of  all  the  thanes  assembled  at  the  Wittenagemot.  He 
inclosed  the  capital  in  a  circle  of  fire  and  plunder  which 
raised  fears  of  a  famine.  Edwin  and  Morcar,  as  well  as  the 
Saxon  prelates,  had  already  begun  to  lose  courage.  The  re 
inforcements  expected  from  the  distant  provinces  were  stopped 
by  the  Normans.  William  was  at  Berkhampstead,  still  threat- 


CHAP.V.]  THE    NORMANS   IN   ENGLAND.  107 

ening  London.  An  embassy  was  dispatched  with  a  view  to 
conciliate  him.  Soon  afterwards  the  young  king  Edgar  and 
all  his  counsellors,  including  Stigand,  Edwin,  and  Morcar,  pre 
sented  themselves  before  the  Norman  —  the  king  to  renounce 
his  empty  title,  the  earls  to  swear  fidelity  to  the  conqueror. 
The  Duke  received  them  affably:  he  promised  in  his  turn  to 
govern  with  mildness,  in  accordance  with  the  ancient  laws; 
and  raising  his  camp  at  Berkhampstead  he  advanced  towards 
London.  For  a  moment  he  had  appeared  to  hesitate  with 
regard  to  the  opportuneness  of  his  coronation ;  but  his  barons 
urged  him  to  take  the  title  which  he  had  won  at  the  point 
of  the  sword,  and  William  voluntarily  allowed  himself  to  be 
guided  by  them,  though  only  consenting  to  stay  in  London 
after  he  should  have  built  a  fortress  for  his  residence. 

He  had  need  to  defend  himself ;  for  at  every  step  the 
hostility  of  the  people  over  whom  he  sought  to  rule  displayed 
itself  energetically.  On  arriving  at  St.  Alban's,  the  Normans 
found  the  way  obstructed  by  a  number  of  large  trees  thrown 
across  the  road.  "  Who  has  done  this  ?  "  inquired  William 
angrily.  "  I,"  replied  the  abbot  of  St.  Alban's,  presenting 
himself  before  him ;  "  and  if  others  of  my  rank  and  profession 
had  done  as  much,  you  would  not  have  advanced  as  far  as 
this."  The  conqueror  did  no  harm  to  the  proud  abbot;  but 
on  the  day  of  his  coronation  he  surrounded  Westminster  Abbey 
with  battalions  of  his  Normans  before  entering  beneath  its 
majestic  roof,  attended  by  his  barons  and  by  the  Saxons  who 
in  a  small  number  had  rallied  round  him.  Stigand  had  sub 
mitted  ;  but  he  had  refused  to  crown  the  usurper.  This 
duty,  therefore,  fell  upon  the  archbishop  of  York,  Aldred,  a 
prudent  man,  who  was  able  to  discern  the  signs  of  the  times. 
At  the  moment  when  the  Duke  entered  the  church,  the  accla 
mations  of  the  bystanders  were  so  noisy  that  the  Normans 
posted  outside,  believing  that  they  were  fighting  in  the  sacred 


108  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.         [CHAP.  V, 

edifice,  rushed  into  the  neighboring  houses  and  set  them  afire. 
The  cries  of  the  inhabitants,  the  clatter  of  arms,  frightened 
in  their  turn  the  spectators  of  the  ceremony ;  they  hurried  in 
a  crowd  to  the  door,  hastening  to  get  out,  and  William  soon 
found  himself  almost  alone  in  the  church  with  the  priests  and 
some  devoted  friends.  The  coronation  ceremony,  however, 
continued,  and  when  the  Duke  of  Normandy  issued  from  the 
church  to  appease  the  tumult,  he  had  become  King  of  Eng 
land.  The  Normans  had  dispersed  to  extinguish  the  fires  or 
pillage  the  houses ;  the  Saxons  murmured  among  themselves 
gloomy  forebodings  of  a  reign  thus  inaugurated  by  fire  and 
sword.  William  left  London  almost  immediately,  and  his 
first  measures,  mild  and  conciliatory  in  their  nature,  attracted 
around  him  a  considerable  number  of  Saxon  chiefs,  to  whom 
he  confirmed  the  title  to  their  domains.  A  great  extent  of 
territory  had  already  fallen  into  his  hands,  but  the  time  for 
dividing  the  spoil  had  not  yet  arrived.  In  the  month  of 
March,  1067,  William  crossed  over  into  Normandy,  having 
intrusted  the  government  of  England  to  his  brother,  the 
Bishop  of  Bayeux. 

Was  his  object  to  place  in  security  the  treasures  which  he 
had  acquired,  or  to  give  time  for  insurrections  to  break  out 
in  order  to  suppress  them  energetically  ?  Whatever  may  have 
been  his  motives,  he  remained  eight  months  in  Normandy, 
enriching  the  churches  and  abbeys  with  the  spoils  gathered 
in  England,  and  conducting  through  his  hereditary  states  the 
dangerous  subjects  whom  he  had  brought  in  his  suite,  Stigand, 
Edwin,  Morcar,  and  the  youthful  Edgar  Atheling. 

Meanwhile  the  Saxons  were  groaning  under  the  exactions 
of  Odo  of  Bayeux,  and  did  not  confine  themselves  to  groans. 
The  risings  became  numerous  ;  the  inhabitants  of  Kent  had 
called  to  their  assistance  Eustace  of  Boulogne,  who  had  pre 
viously  been  the  cause  of  the  discontent  of  the  English  with 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  NORMANS  IN    ENGLAND.  109 

Edward  the  Confessor,  and  who  was  now  at  enmity  with  the 
Conqueror.  He  came  ;  but  Dover  Castle  opposed  to  his  attacks 
an  unexpected  resistance,  which  allowed  the  Normans  time  to 
arrive  and  repulse  him.  William  had  returned  to  England, 
when,  in  1068,  the  ill-feeling  of  the  population  of  Devon 
drew  upon  that  county  the  attention  of  the  conquerors.  The 
aged  Githa,  the  mother  of  Harold,  was  living  at  Exeter, 
whither  she  had  carried  all  her  wealth.  The  fortress  refused 
to  receive  William  and  his  garrison,  offering  only  to  pay  the 
taxes  which  were  wont  to  be  paid  to  the  Saxon  kings.  "  I 
desire  subjects,  and  do  not  accept  their  conditions,"  said  Wil 
liam,  who  ordered  the  assault  to  be  commenced.  The  city 
was  well  defended  ;  it  resisted  for  eighteen  days.  At  length 
the  magistrates,  less  firm  than  the  citizens,  opened  the  gates, 
and  the  inhabitants  paid  cruelly  for  their  obstinacy.  Githa, 
and  the  ladies  of  her  suite,  succeeded  in  escaping,  and  in 
concealing  themselves  in  the  little  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Severn,  whence  they  set  sail  for  Flanders.  But  scarcely  was 
the  outbreak  extinguished  in  the  South,  when.it  broke  forth 
in  the  North.  Earl  Edwin,  -to  whom  William  had  lately 
refused  to  give  the  hand  of  one  of  his  daughters,  as  he 
had  previously  promised,  had  withdrawn  himself  from  his 
court,  and  the  vassals,  as  well  as  the  friends  of  the  earl,  had 
already  gathered  around  him  in  Northumbria.  The  Conqueror 
at  once  commenced  his  march,  and  entering  York,  took  up 
his  position  there  after  expelling  the  Saxons.  While  he  was 
pillaging  and  ravaging  the  environs,  the  old  Archbishop  Aldred, 
whose  convoys  had  been  seized,  came  to  make  complaint  to  the 
king,  and  reproaching  him  with  the  cruelties  committed  in  his 
name.  "  Thou  art  a  foreigner,  King  William,"  he  exclaimed, 
41  yet,  Heaven  desiring  to  punish  our  nation,  thou  hast  ob 
tained  this  kingdom  of  England  at  the  price  of  much  blood 
shed,  and  I  have  anointed  thee  with  my  own  hands.  But  I 


110  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  V. 

now  curse  thee  and  thy  race,  because  thou  hast  persecuted 
the  Church  of  God  and  oppressed  its  servants."  Several  Nor 
mans  had  already  grasped  the  hilts  of  their  swords ;  but 
William  restrained  them,  and  permitted  the  priest  to  return 
in  safety  into  his  palace,  where  he  fell  sick  and  died  soon 
afterwards. 

The  capture  of  York  had  not  discouraged  the  Northumbrians  ; 
they  attacked  the  Normans  in  Durham,  and  massacred  them  in 
numbers ;  they  had  also  received  important  reinforcements. 
Sweyn,  king  of  Denmark,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  sons  of 
Harold,  had  sent  assistance  to  the  insurgents;  two  hundred 
and  forty  Danish  vessels  were  approaching  the  coasts.  Edgar 
Atheling,  having  sought  refuge  in  Scotland  with  King  Malcolm, 
who  had  married  his  sister  Margaret,  had  lately  joined  the 
Saxon  army,  and  promised  the  support  of  his  brother-in-law. 
Before  the  Conqueror  was  apprised  of  this  new  danger,  York 
was  recaptured  by  the  insurgents,  and  Edgar  Atheling  had 
assumed  once  more  the  title  of  King,  which  he  had  formerly 
laid  at  the  feet  of  the  Norman.  But  winter  came,  and  William 
was  already  assembling  his  army.  Settling  hastily  the  affairs 
which  had  called  him  southward,  he  took  once  more  the  road 
towards  the  North,  and  entered  into  secret  negotiations  with 
the  Danes,  insomuch  that  at  the  moment  that  he  appeared 
under  the  walls  of  York  the  pirates  weighed  anchor  and 
sailed  again  down  the  coast,  pillaging  the  Saxon  villages 
which  the  king  had  abandoned  to  them  before  taking  again 
the  road  towards  their  country. 

Malcolm,  the  king  of  Scotland,  had  now  come  to  the  assist 
ance  of  the  insurgents.  York  was  again  taken  and  put  to 
fire  and  sword.  King  William  then  carried  his  anger  and  his 
vengeance  into  all  the  counties  of  the  North ;  not  a  village 
which  was  not  burned,  not  a  domain  which  was  not  confis 
cated.  The  churches,  and  even  the  monasteries,  found  no 


AZELIN  FORBIDDING  THE   BURIAL  OF  WILLIAM  THE  CONQUEROR. 


ARCHBISHOP   ALDRED'S   CURSE. 


CHAP.  V.]  THE   NORMANS  IN  ENGLAND.  Ill 

shelter  against  Norman  rapacity.  The  inhabitants  of  Beverley 
had  amassed  their  treasures  in  the  church  dedicated  to  St. 
John  of  Beverley,  a  Saxon  like  themselves,  who  owed  them 
protection.  This,  however,  had  no  effect  upon  the  Normans, 
and  Toutain,  one  of  the  battle  chiefs  of  William,  penetrated  on 
horseback  into  the  church  of  the  monastery,  in  pursuit  of  the 
fugitives  who  had  taken  refuge  there.  His  horse  slipped  upon 
the  marble  pavement  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  horseman  was 
killed.  St.  John  of  Beverley  had  protected  his  countrymen, 
and  the  Normans  withdrew  from  his  abbey.  Edgar  Atheling 
had  taken  refuge  again  in  Scotland ;  but  this  time  the  insur 
rection  had  found  a  true  chief.  Hereward,  lord  of  Born,  a 
warrior  celebrated  by  his  adventures  abroad,  had  intrenched 
himself  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  which  he  called  the  Camp  of  Ref 
uge,  and  from  all  sides  the  oppressed  English  gathered  around 
him.  William  ordered  the  earls  Edwin  and  Morcar,  who  had 
returned  to  his  court,  to  be  carefully  watched.  They  were 
apprised  of  the  fact,  and  secretly  fled.  Edwin  was  overtaken 
and  slain  by  the  soldiers  who  pursued  him  ;  but  Morcar  suc 
ceeded  in  reaching  the  Isle  of  Ely.  Thence  Hereward  under 
took  expeditions  into  the  surrounding  country,  and  kept  at 
bay  all  the  troops  which  William  sent  against  him.  He  even 
defied  Yves  Taillebois,  one  of  the  king's  favorites,  whom 
William  had  recently  induced  to  marry  Lucy,  a  sister  to  Edwin 
and  Morcar,  and  whose  intolerable  tyranny  contributed  to 
maintain  the  insurrection  in  the  eastern  counties.  But  King 
William  caused  the  little  isle  to  be  invested,  cutting  off  from 
it  provisions  and  reinforcements.  The  monks  of  the  monastery 
grew  weary  of  that  compulsory  fast,  and  indicated  to  the 
Normans  the  points  of  attack.  The  Saxons  were  beaten  ; 
the  Bishop  of  Durham  and  Earl  Morcar  were  taken  and  cast 
into  prison  for  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Hereward  suc 
ceeded  in  escaping,  and  in  maintaining  an  irregular  warfare ; 


112  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  V. 

but,  won  over  at  last  by  the  proposals  of  William,  who  sincerely 
admired  his  indomitable  courage,  he  consented  to  lay  down  his 
arms.  He  lived  long  afterwards  upon  his  domains,  which  the 
Conqueror  permitted  him  to  enjoy. 

The  Camp  of  Refuge  was  destroyed,  and  the  county  of 
Northumberland  was  given  by  William  to  the  Saxon  Waltheof, 
a  warrior  esteemed  by  his  countrymen,  whom  William  had 
attached  to  him  by  giving  him  the  hand  of  his  niece  Judith. 
Being  called  away  into  Normandy  in  consequence  of  a  rising 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Maine,  the  king  took  with  him  an  English 
army,  which  fought  as  valiantly  for  him  as  it  had  against 
him  shortly  before.  During  his  sojourn  on  the  Continent  he 
received  into  favor  Edgar  Atheling,  who  had  recently  failed 
in  a  new  attempt  instigated  by  the  king  of  France,  Philippe 
I. ;  the  descendant  of  King  Alfred  took  up  his  abode  at 
Rouen,  where  he  passed  eleven  years  of  his  life  in  amusing 
himself  with  his  horses  and  dogs. 

A  fresh  insurrection  recalled  William  into  England.  On 
this  occasion  it  was  the  Normans  themselves  who  revolted 
against  him.  His  faithful  companion,  William  Fitz-Osbern, 
was  dead,  and  his  son  Roger,  Earl  of  Hereford  like  his  father, 
had  contracted  a  marriage  with  the  sister  of  Ralph  de  Waher, 
or  Guader,  a  Breton  knight,  who  had  accompanied  William, 
and  had  been  created  Earl  of  Norfolk.  This  union  was  dis 
tasteful  to  the  king,  who  had  endeavored  to  prevent  it,  for 
he  did  not  like  the  Bretons.  After  the  nuptials  the  party 
was  excited :  Fitz-Osbern  and  Waher  spoke  of  the  tyranny  of 
King  William,  and  proposed  his  overthrow.  Waltheof,  who 
was  present,  had  listened,  but  without  taking  part  in  the 
conspiracy.  He  had  merely  promised  secrecy;  but  the  secret 
was  betrayed  by  his  wife,  who  disliked  him,  and  desired  to 
rid  herself  of  her  husband.  Lanfranc,  who  had  become  arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury  upon  the  deposition  of  Stigand,  and  who 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  NORMANS   IN   ENGLAND.  113 

was  invested  with  power  in  the  absence  of  his  master,  dis 
patched  an  army  against  the  rebels.  The  latter  had  been 
obliged  to  declare  themselves  before  their  preparations  were 
completed.  When  the  king  recrossed  the  sea,  the  insurrec 
tion  was  already  almost  suppressed.  Waher  was  banished,  to 
gether  with  a  great  number  of  Bretons ;  Fitz-Osbern  was  put 
in  prison;  the  unfortunate  Waltheof,  who  had  not  taken  up 
arms,  but  who  was  a  Saxon,  son  of  the  glorious  Siward,  and 
Earl  of  Northumbria,  was  executed,  to  the  great  indignation 
of  his  fellow-countrymen,  who  came  in  crowds  to  pray  at  his 
tomb,  and  attributed  to  him  numerous  miracles.  William 
did  not  allow  Judith  to  marry  the  man  for  whom  she  had 
sacrificed  her  husband.  She,  on  her  part,  refused  the  marriage 
which  he  offered  her;  and  the  king  having  stripped  her  of 
all  her  possessions,  this  wicked  woman  was  reduced  to  wander 
sometimes  in  England,  sometimes  on  the  Continent,  bearing 
with  her  everywhere  tokens  of  her  misery  and  shame. 

Thus  ended  the  great  insurrection  in  England.  William 
was  master  of  the  country,  and  the  harsh  repressive  measures 
which  he  had  employed  at  length  bore  their  fruits.  The 
Saxons  murmured  under  the  weight  of  their  misfortunes,  but 
no  longer  dared  to  revolt.  The  king,  frequently  called  into 
Normandy  by  his  quarrels  with  his  eldest  son,  Robert  Curthose, 
was  able  now  to  leave  England  without  anxiety.  When  he 
arrived  at  manhood,  Robert  had  called  on  his  father  to  divest 
himself  in  his  favor  of  the  duchy  of  Normandy,  "  I  am 
not  accustomed  to  throw  off  my  clothing  before  going  to  bed," 
replied  William ;  and  Robert,  irritated,  had  revolted  against 
his  father,  and  endeavored  to  arouse  against  him  embarrass 
ments  and  enemies  on  all  sides.  In  vain  had  his  mother 
Matilda,  who  loved  him  tenderly,  endeavored  many  times 
to  reconcile  him  with  his  father.  Robert  could  not  endure 
the  yoke  of  paternal  authority.  He  journeyed  about  the  Con- 

VOL.  i.  15 


114  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  V. 

tinent,  expatiating  upon  his  grievances,  and  squandering  the 
money  which  his  mother  sent  to  him  secretly,  to  the  great 
vexation  of  William.  He  received  assistance  from  the  king 
of  France,  Philip  I.,  who  detested  his  father,  and  who  in 
stalled  him  in  the  fortress  of  Gerberoi,  on  the  confines  of 
Normandy,  whence  it  was  easy  for  him  to  pillage  the  neigh 
boring  territory.  William  besieged  Gerberoi.  During  a  sortie 
Robert  found  himself  face  to  face  with  a  knight  of  robust 
form,  concealed  by  his  armor,  and  having  his  visor  lowered, 
with  whom  he  contended  for  some  time.  At  length  he  un 
seated  him,  and  was  on  the  point  of  dispatching  his  antago 
nist,  when  the  wounded  knight  called  his  people  to  his  aid, 
and  Robert  recognized  the  voice  of  his  father.  In  spite  of 
his  vanity,  Robert's  heart  was  accessible  to  generous  sentiments. 
He  threw  himself  on  his  knees  before  his  prostrate  father, 
entreated  his  pardon,  raised  him  with  his  own  hands,  and 
set  him  on  his  horse.  A  reconciliation  followed,  for  Robert 
was  softened  and  penitent.  But  a  fresh  quarrel  soon  hurried 
the  son  out  of  Normandy.  He  set  forth  bearing  with  him 
a  malediction  which  his  father  never  revoked. 

While  the  rebellions  of  his  eldest  son  detained  the  Conqueror 
in  his  Norman  domains,  his  brother  Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux, 
whom  he  had  created  Earl  of  Kent,  had  made  himself  detested 
in  England.  A  brave  and  able  warrior,  the  bishop  had  often 
led  to  battle  the  soldiers  of  William ;  but  he  had  taken  ad 
vantage  of  his  influence  to  oppress  the  poor  Saxons,  extorting 
from  them  enormous  riches.  His  vast  treasures,  the  grand 
position  which  his  brother  occupied,  and  the  conquests  of  the 
Normans  in  Italy,  had  awakened  in  the  heart  of  the  Bishop 
of  Bayeux  the  hope  of  becoming  Pope.  He  had  bought  a 
palace  in  Rome,  and  had  sent  there  a  great  deal  of  money, 
when  he  resolved  to  go  himself  into  Italy,  and  began  to  make 
preparations  for  his  journey,  gathering  around  him  a  number 


"ROBERT  THREW  HIMSELF  ON  HIS  KNEES  BEFORE  HIS  PROSTRATE  FATHER.' 


CHAP.  V.]  THE   NORMANS  IN    ENGLAND.  115 

of  Norman  pilgrims  anxious  to  obtain  pardon  for  their  sins 
by  that  holy  enterprise. 

Scarcely,  however,  had  William  become  cognizant  of  his 
brother's  project,  when  he  returned  from  Normandy,  and 
meeting  the  prelate  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  caused  him  to  be 
immediately  arrested.  Then  reassembling  his  council,  he  enu 
merated  before  the  barons  his  grievances  against  the  Bishop 
of  Bayeux,  his  cruelties,  his  extortions,  his  secret  manoeuvres. 
"  What  does  such  a  brother  deserve  ? "  he  asked  in  conclu 
sion.  No  one  replied.  "  Let  him  be  arrested,"  said  the  king, 
"  and  I  will  see  to  him."  The  barons  hesitated :  William 
himself  advanced  towards  his  brother.  "  Thou  hast  not  the 
right  to  touch  me,"  exclaimed  Odo ;  "I  am  a  priest  and  a 
bishop  ;  the  Pope  alone  is  empowered  to  condemn  me."  "  I 
am  not  judging  the  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  but  the  Earl  of  Kent," 
replied  William  ;  and  having  sent  him  across  the  sea  into 
Normandy,  he  imprisoned  his  brother  in  a  dungeon,  to  the 
great  satisfaction  of  the  English,  who  detested  him. 

William  had  lost  his  wife,  Queen  Matilda,  in  1083  ;  the 
only  softening  influence  which  had  tempered  that  imperious 
will  had  disappeared.  His  two  remaining  sons,  William  and 
Henry,  quarrelled  with  each  other :  the  Danes  were  again 
threatening  the  shores  of  England,  where  they  could  easily 
have  found  support ;  and  the  English,  sullen  and  subjected, 
nourished  in  their  hearts  a  deep  hatred  towards  the  sovereign 
who  had  despoiled  them,  not  only  to  enrich  his  Norman  ad 
herents,  but  in  favor  of  the  stags  and  deer,  "  whom  (says 
the  chronicle)  he  loved  like  his  children,"  and  for  whose 
sake  he  had  created  or  enlarged  forests,  while  he  had  destroyed 
towns,  villages,  and  monasteries  which  interfered  with  the 
preservation  of  game,  or  the  pleasures  of  the  chase,  the  pas 
sion  for  which  he  transmitted  to  his  descendants. 

It  was  during   these  years  of  doubtful  repose  that  William 


116  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  V. 

caused  to  be  compiled  the  Domesday  Book,  a  complete  record 
of  the  state  of  property  in  England,  in  repute  to  this  day, 
and  an  indispensable  labor  after  a  conquest  which  had  resulted 
in  the  transfer  of  nearly  all  the  domains  to  other  hands. 
William  had  divided  the  immense  territories  of  which  he  had 
possessed  himself  into  sixty  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
fees  of  knights  who  had  all  sworn  to  him  the  oath  of  fidelity. 
Six  hundred  great  vassals  holding  directly  from  the  crown 
had  also  sworn  to  him  faith  and  homage  as  their  suzerain 
lord;  and  lest  their  united  influence  should  become  danger 
ous,  the  king  had  scattered  their  fiefs  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  among  their  enemies  the  Saxons.  Perhaps  uncon 
sciously  William  had  thus  obviated  the  greater  part  of  the 
inconveniences  of  the  conquest.  This  was  not  like  the  case 
of  a  feeble  and  effeminate  people  exhausted  by  oppression  as 
were  the  Gauls  at  the  moment  of  the  invasion  of  the  Ger 
mans.  In  England,  two  nations  of  the  same  origin  and  the 
same  religion,  equally  brave  and  obstinate,  had  found  them 
selves  face  to  face.  The  Saxons  were  strong  enough  to  resist 
their  conquerors  step  by  step.  The  Normans  could  not  com 
pletely  oppress  a  people  always  ready  to  revolt,  who  had  long 
possessed  institutions  fitted  for  developing  individual  liberty. 
Thus  compelled  to  reckon  with  the  conquered,  the  Normans 
necessarily  acquired  by  degrees  a  greater  respect  for  liberty 
than  they  had  felt  under  the  Norman,  feudal  regime.  The 
persecuted  Saxons  remained  united  in  order  to  preserve  some 
power  of  resistance :  the  Normans  triumphant,  but  few  in 
number  among  their  enemies,  were  in  their  turn  compelled  to 
agree  together,  that  they  might  not  be  crushed.  Governed  by 
the  feudal  law,  they  owed  to  the  king  their  lord  feudal  service 
and  certain  gifts  or  dues  under  definite  conditions;  the  Sax 
ons,  who  by  degrees  allied  themselves  with  William,  accepted 
the  same  conditions  on  receiving  their  fiefs,  without,  however, 


CHAP.  V.]  THE   NORMANS  IN  ENGLAND.  117 

renouncing  the  laws  peculiar  to  their  race,  or  the  rural  insti 
tutions  which  the  conquerors  did  not  use  themselves,  and 
did  not  always  permit  to  be  freely  exercised.  It  was,  never 
theless,  to  this  assemblage  of  confused  regulations,  requiring 
long  years  to  bring  them  into  accord,  that  the  two  nations 
owed  the  preservation  of  their  strength  and  their  liberties 
during  the  fusion  which  was  slowly  in  progress.  In  England, 
as  on  the  Continent,  the  feudal  lords  were  grand  justiciaries 
upon  their  lands,  but  they  had  acquired  the  habit  of  sum 
moning  eight  or  ten  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  neigh 
borhood  in  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  facts  alleged,  ac 
cording  to  the  ancient  Saxon  custom,  which  is  the  origin  of 
juries.  When  the  criminal  could  not  be  found,  the  parish 
remained  responsible  for  fines  and  costs.  Thus  the  Saxons 
and  the  Normans  came  to  perform  themselves  the  duties  of 
police  and  of  maintaining  order.  Instead  of  succumbing,  the 
liberties  of  England  developed  and  fortified  themselves  by 
the  conquest.  It  was  a  struggle,  but  not  an  oppression. 

Meanwhile  William  the  Conqueror  grew  weary  of  his  in 
action.  Gloomy  and  alone,  he  felt  the  need  of  the  noise  of 
combat  and  the  excitement  of  war.  Philip  I.  had  refused 
to  yield  up  to  him  the  town  of  Mantes,  and  a  portion  of  the 
French  Vexin  over  which  he  claimed  to  have  right  as  Duke 
of  Normandy.  Philip  had  even  encouraged  his  barons  to 
make  incursions  into  William's  territory.  Uniting  his  Norman 
barons  and  his  English  vassals,  whose  valor  he  knew,  against 
his  enemies,  he  crossed  the  sea  in  the  latter  days  of  the  year 
1086,  to  seize  by  force  of  arms  what  the  king  of  France 
refused  to  yield  to  negotiations.  On  arriving  in  France, 
William  had  been  taken  ill,  and  it  was  not  till  the  month 
of  June  that  he  was  at  length  able  to  march  against  Mantes, 
which  he  captured  and  cruelly  pillaged.  While  in  the 
midst  of  the  burning  town  he  was  encouraging  his  soldiers, 


118  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  V. 

his  horse  slipped.  The  king  was  an  old  man  of  heavy  frame  ; 
he  fell  and  was  seriously  injured.  They  carried  him  to 
Rouen,  where  he  languished  six  weeks.  Remorse  now  seized 
him :  all  the  cruelties  of  his  life  rose  up  before  him ;  he 
endeavored  to  expiate  them  by  gifts  to  the  poor  and  en 
dowments  of  the  churches.  His  two  younger  sons  were 
there,  anxious  to  know  in  what  way  the  king  was  about  to 
divide  his  heritage.  In  spite  of  his  anger  against  Robert, 
the  king  would  not  deprive  him  of  the  duchy  of  Normandy, 
where  he  had  been  able  to  make  friends.  "  I  leave  to  no 
one  the  kingdom  of  England,"  he  said ;  "  for  I  did  not  receive 
it  as  a  heritage,  but  won  it  by  my  sword,  at  the  price  of 
much  bloodshed.  I  confide  it  therefore  to  the  good-will  of 
God,  desiring  nevertheless  that  it  should  go  to  my  son  Wil 
liam,  who  has  always  obeyed  and  served  me  in  all  things;" 
and  he  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  Lanfranc,  to  recommend  him 
to  crown  his  son. 

Henry  approached  his  father's  bed.  "And  I,"  said  he. 
"Do  you  leave  me  nothing  ?  "  "  Five  thousand  pounds'  weight 
of  silver  from  my  treasury,"  replied  the  king,  who  was  now 
dying.  "  And  what  shall  I  do  with  this  silver  if  I  have 
neither  house  nor  land?"  cried  the  young  man.  "Be  pa 
tient,  my  son,"  said  the  king,  "  and  thou  shalt,  perhaps,  be 
greater  than  all."  Henry  immediately  obtained  payment  of 
the  money  and  went  his  way,  while  his  brother  William  set 
out  for  England  in  order  to  accomplish  his  father's  wishes 
by  being  crowned  as  soon  as  possible.  The  Conqueror  was 
left  alone  upon  his  death-bed. 

It  was  the  9th  of  September,  1087.  William  was  sleeping 
heavily  when  he  was  awakened  by  the  sound  of  bells.  "  What 
is  that  ?  "  he  inquired.  "  The  bells  of  St.  Mary  sounding  the 
prime,"  was  the  answer.  "  I  commend  my  soul  to  Our  Lady, 
the  sainted  Mary,  and  to  God,"  said  the  king,  raising  his 


llliillllltt 


CHAP.V.]     THE  NORMANS  IN  ENGLAND.         119 

hand  towards  heaven,  and  he  expired.  His  sons  had  left 
him  when  dying  :  his  attendants  abandoned  him  when  dead. 
A  sudden  stupor  seized  on  the  entire  city  upon  the  death 
of  this  powerful  and  terrible  ruler.  When  the  monks  recov 
ered  themselves,  and  flocked  into  the  royal  palace  to  fulfil 
the  duties  of  their  office,  they  found  the  chamber  stripped 
and  the  body  of  the  Conqueror  almost  naked,  stretched  upon 
the  ground.  The  king's  sons  troubled  themselves  no  more 
with  the  funeral  of  their  father  than  they  had  done  with 
regard  to  his  last  moments.  His  body  was  conveyed  to  Caen, 
and  it  was  a  country  gentleman  named  Herluin  who  under 
took  the  expenses,  from  a  kind  disposition,  and  for  the  love 
of  God.  At  the  church  of  St.  Stephen  of  Caen,  which  the 
king  had  built  and  endowed,  the  body  of  the  monarch  was 
on  the  point  of  being  placed  in  a  grave,  when  a  citizen  of 
Caen,  named  Azelin,  advanced  from  among  the  crowd  and 
exclaimed,  "  Bishop,  the  man  whom  you  have  praised  was  a 
robber.  The  ground  on  which  we  stand  is  mine;  it  was  the 
site  of  my  father's  house,  which  he  took  from  me  to  build 
his  church.  I  claim  my  right,  and  in  the  name  of  God  I 
forbid  you  to  inter  him  in  my  ground,  or  to  cover  his  body 
with  earth  which  is  mine."  It  was  necessary  to  pay  to 
Azelin  the  just  compensation  which  he  claimed  before  the  body 
was  allowed  to  be  deposited  in  the  grave  that  awaited  it.  It 
was  found  to  be  too  narrow,  and  they  were  compelled  to 
place  the  coffin  in  it  by  force,  to  the  great  horror  of  the 
bystanders,  and  not  till  then  was  the  Conqueror  able  to  en 
joy  in  peace  the  six  feet  of  earth  required  for  his  last  resting- 
place. 


120  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  NORMAN   KINGS.  —  WILLIAM  RUFUS.  —  HENRY    I. — 
STEPHEN.     1087-1154. 

WILLIAM  RUFUS  had  not  yet  set  sail  from  Wissant, 
near  Calais,  when  he  received  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  his  father.  He  kept  the  news  secret ;  and  obtained 
possession  of  several  important  places  on  the  pretext  of  orders 
which  he  had  received  from  the  deceased  king.  It  was  not 
until  he  had  helped  himself  freely  to  the  treasure  of  the 
Conqueror  at  Winchester,  and  had  made  arrangements  with 
the  Archbishop  Lanfranc,  that  he  proclaimed  the  death  of  his 
father  and  his  own  claim  to  the  crown.  The  bishop  had 
been  careful  to  administer  to  the  king  an  oath  binding  him 
to  observe  the  laws  before  consenting  to  give  him  his  sup 
port  ,  but  oaths  cost  little  to  William.  Scarcely  had  he  been 
declared  king  by  a  council  of  barons  and  prelates,  hurriedly 
assembled  on  the  26th  of  September,  108T,  than  he  violated 
his  original  engagements,  and  cast  the  Saxon  prisoners,  whom 
his  father  had  liberated  on  his  death-bed,  again  into  prisons, 
together  with  his  Norman  captives. 

The  new  monarch  would  have  acted  more  wisely  if  he  had 
decided  on  a  directly  opposite  course.  Scarcely  had  the 
Bishop  of  Bayeux  and  his  companions  in  captivity  been  set 
at  liberty  than  they  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  the 
malcontents.  The  great  barons  all  possessed  fiefs  in  Nor 
mandy  and  in  England :  the  separation  of  the  two  states, 
therefore,  displeased  them.  Many  of  them  resolved  to  depose 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE    NORMAN    KINGS.  121 

William  in  order  to  secure  to  Robert  an  undivided  paternal 
inheritance.  In  consequence  of  their  manoeuvres  a  serious 
insurrection  broke  out  simultaneously  in  several  parts  of  Eng 
land.  Robert  Curthose  had  promised  to  support  his  parti 
sans  with  a  Norman  army,  and  already  some  small  bodies 
of  troops  had  put  to  sea,  confident  of  meeting  with  no  re 
sistance  from  the  king,  who  was  without  a  fleet.  William 
Rufus  took  his  measures,  and  called  round  him  that  English 
nation  which  his  father  had  scarcely  subjected.  "  Let  him 
who  is  not  a  man  of  nothing,  either  in  the  towns  or  in 
the  country,  leave  his  home  and  come."  Such  was  the  proc 
lamation  in  all  the  counties  according  to  the  ancient  Saxon 
custom.  The  Saxons  obeyed :  thirty  thousand  men  assembled 
round  King  William,  while  the  merchant  ships,  already  nu 
merous,  were  cruising  in  the  Channel,  and  destroying,  one 
after  the  other,  the  little  flotillas  which  were  bringing  over 
the  Normans.  Bishop  Odo  had  fortified  himself  in  Roches 
ter:  the  king  attacked  him  there  with  his  Saxon  army,  and 
would  have  compelled  him  to  surrender  at  discretion,  if  the 
Normans  who  had  remained  faithful  to  William  had  not  in 
terceded  on  his  behalf.  "  We  assisted  thee  in  the  time  of 
danger,"  said  they;  "we  beg  thee  now  to  spare  our  fellow- 
countrymen  ;  our  relations,  who  are  also  thine,  and  who  aided 
thy  father  to  possess  himself  of  England."  The  king  con 
sented  to  let  the  garrison  march  out  with  arms  and  bag 
gage  ;  but  the  arrogant  prelate  demanded  that  the  trumpets 
should  not  celebrate  his  defeat.  "  I  would  not  consent  for 
a  thousand  marks  of  gold,"  exclaimed  William  angrily,  and 
above  the  sound  of  the  trumpets  arose  the  cries  of  the  Saxons: 
"  Bring  us  a  halter  that  we  may  hang  this  traitor  bishop  and 
his  accomplices.  O  king,  why  do  you  allow  him  to  retire 
thus  safe  and  sound?" 

Odo   returned   to   Normandy,  Duke   Robert  negotiated  with 
VOL.  i.  16 


122  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

his  brother,  and  the  Saxons  had  already  lost  the  advantages 
which  William  had  accorded  or  promised  to  them  in  order 
to  secure  their  co-operation.  Lanfranc  was  dead:  and  the 
oppression  had  become  more  burdensome,  the  exactions  more 
odious,  since  his  influence  had  disappeared.  The  king  delayed 
long  to  appoint  his  successor,  taking  himself  possession  of  the 
rich  domains  and  revenues  of  the  diocese  of  Canterbury  in 
contempt  of  ecclesiastical  pretensions.  He  had  for  minister 
and  confidant  a  Norman  priest,  Ralph  Flambard,  whom  he 
had  made  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  whose  tyranny  was  so  great 
that  the  inhabitants  of  his  diocese,  says  the  chronicle,  "  de 
sired  death  rather  than  to  live  under  his  power."  The  he 
reditary  passion  of  King  William  for  the  chase,  and  the  rigor 
of  the  forest  laws,  were  among  the  most  frequent  causes  of 
persecution.  "  The  guardian  of  the  forests  and  the  pastor 
of  the  wild  beasts,"  as  the  Saxons  called  him,  took  advan 
tage  of  the  least  offence  against  his  tyrannical  ordinances  to 
crush  the  thanes,  who  had  preserved  some  remains  of  power. 
Fifty  Saxons  of  considerable  influence  were  accused  of  having 
taken,  killed,  and  eaten  deer.  They  denied  the  charge,  and 
the  Norman  judges  compelled  them  to  undergo  the  ordeal  of 
red-hot  iron;  but  their  hands  were  untouched.  When  the 
fact  was  announced  to  the  king  he  burst  into  laughter. 
"  What  matters  that  ?  "  said  he  ;  "  God  is  no  good  judge  of 
such  matters;  it  is  I  who  am  most  concerned  in  such  affairs, 
and  I  will  judge  these  fellows."  The  chronicle  does  not  say 
what  became  of  the  poor  Saxons. 

Several  times  war  had  broken  out  between  William  and  his 
brother  Robert.  Rufus  had  conceived  the  hope  of  expelling 
Curthose  from  Normandy.  He  had  numerous  partisans  on  the 
Continent,  and  but  for  the  support  of  the  King  of  France, 
and  the  alliance  with  his  brother  Henry,  Curthose  must  soon 
have  succumbed.  But  in  1096,  after  a  great  insurrection  in 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE    NORMAN  KINGS.  123 

England,  and  at  the  moment  when  King  William,  triumphant 
over  internal  commotions,  was  probably  about  to  renew  his 
attacks  upon  Normandy,  Duke  Robert,  seized  with  a  passion 
for  the  Crusades,  which  were  beginning  then  to  agitate  Chris 
tendom,  suddenly  proposed  to  his  brother  to  mortgage  his 
duchy  for  some  years  for  a  large  sum  of  money,  which  would 
enable  him  to  equip  troops  and  to  set  out  with  Sclat  for  the 
East.  The  coffers  of  the  king  were  no  better  filled  than 
were  those  of  the  duke,  but  he  was  more  skilful  in  replen 
ishing  them  at  the  expense  of  his  subjects.  The  monasteries 
and  the  churches  were  taxed  like  the  Saxons.  "  Have  you 
not  coffers  of  gold  and  silver  filled  with  the  bones  of  the 
dead  ? "  exclaimed  Rufus,  and  he  laid  his  hand  upon  the 
shrines  containing  the  reliques.  Robert  received  the  sums 
agreed  upon  and  set  out  joyfully  for  Palestine,  while  William 
crossed  into  Normandy,  and  without  meeting  resistance,  took 
possession  of  the  duchy,  where  he  already  possessed  numerous 
fortresses.  Maine  alone  exhibited  repugnance,  and  a  revolt 
broke  out  there  in  1100  while  the  Red  King  was  enjoying 
the  chase  in  England,  in  the  hunting-grounds  created  by  his 
father,  which  bear  to  this  day  the  name  of  the  New  Forest. 
He  set  out  instantly  for  the  Continent.  His  nobles  begged 
him  to  take  time  to  assemble  his  forces.  "  No,  no,"  replied 
Rufus  ;  "  I  know  the  country  and  shall  soon  have  men  enough;" 
and  he  jumped  aboard  the  first  vessel  which  he  met  with,  in 
spite  of  the  violence  of  the  wind.  "  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a 
king  being  drowned  ?  "  he  said  to  the  sailors  who  were  hesi 
tating  to  set  sail ;  and  he  arrived  safe  and  sound  at  Barfleur. 
The  rumor  of  his  coming  terrified  the  Lord  of  La  Fleche, 
who  was  the  leader  of  the  insurrection  ;  he  abandoned  the 
siege  of  Le  Mans  and  took  to  flight.  The  domains  of  the 
enemy  were  soon  ravaged,  and  Rufus  returned  to  England. 
Sinister  rumors  were  circulating  among  the  Saxons  with 


124  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

regard  to  the  royal  forests.  One  of  the  sons  of  William  the 
Conqueror  had  wounded  himself  mortally  in  chasing  the  deer 
in  the  New  Forest.  In  the  month  of  May,  1100,  the  son 
of  Duke  Robert,  on  a  visit  to  his  uncle,  was  killed  there 
by  an  arrow.  People  said  that  Satan  appeared  to  the  Nor 
mans  and  announced  the  sinister  end  which  awaited  them  ; 
but  the  Red  King  continued  to  devote  himself  to  the  chase. 
It  was  the  1st  of  August.  He  had  passed  the  night  at 
Malwood  Keep,  a  castle  used  as  a  hunting-seat  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  forest.  His  brother  Henry,  with  whom  he  had 
become  reconciled,  was  with  him.  A  numerous  suite  accom 
panied  him,  among  whom  was  one  of  the  private  friends  of 
William,  a  great  hunter  like  himself,  one  Walter  Tyrrel,  a 
French  nobleman,  who  possessed  large  estates  in  Poix  and 
Ponthieu.  During  the  night  the  king  had  been  agitated  by 
terrible  dreams :  he  had  been  heard  to  invoke  "  the  name 
of  Our  Lady,  which  was  not  his  custom;"  but  he  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  all  this,  and  was  preparing  cheerfully  for  the 
fatigues  and  pleasures  of  the  day.  While  he  was  putting  on 
his  buskins,  a  workman  approached  and  presented  him  with 
six  new  arrows.  He  examined  them,  and  taking  four  for 
himself,  gave  the  two  others  to  Walter  Tyrrel,  with  the  re 
mark,  "  The  good  marksman  should  have  the  good  weapons." 
As  he  was  breakfasting  with  a  good  appetite,  one  of  the 
monks  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Peter  at  Gloucester  brought  him 
letters  from  his  abbot.  During  the  night  one  of  the  brethren 
had  been  tormented  with  dismal  visions.  He  had  seen  Jesus 
Christ  seated  upon  His  throne,  and  at  His  feet  a  woman 
supplicating  Him  on  behalf  of  the  human  beings  who  were 
groaning  under  the  yoke  of  William.  The  king  laughed  at 
the  omen.  "Do  they  take  me  for  an  Englishman,"  said 
he,  "  with  their  dreams  ?  Do  they  think  I  am  one  of  those 
idiots  who  abandon  their  course  or  their  affairs  because  an 


CHAF.  VI.]  THE   NORMAN   KINGS.  125 

old  woman  chances  to  dream  or  sneeze  ?  Come,  Walter  de 
Poix!  To  horse!" 

The  hunting  party  had  dispersed  over  the  forest:  Walter 
Tyrrel  alone  remained  with  the  king.  Their  dogs  hunted  in 
company.  Both  were  in  search  of  prey,  when  a  great  stag, 
disturbed  by  the  commotion,  unexpectedly  passed  between 
the  king  and  his  companion.  William  immediately  drew  his 
bow :  the  string  of  his  weapon  broke,  and  the  arrow  did 
not  shoot.  The  stag  had  stopped,  surprised  by  the  noise, 
but  not  perceiving  the  hunters.  The  king  had  made  a  sign 
to  Tyrrel,  but  he  did  not  draw  his  bow.  The  king  became 
angry.  "  Shoot,  Walter !  "  he  exclaimed  ;  "  shoot,  in  the 
devil's  name  !  "  An  arrow  flew,  no  doubt  that  of  Tyrrel ; 
but  instead  of  striking  the  stag,  it  buried  itself  in  the  breast 
of  the  king.  He  fell  without  uttering  a  word.  Walter  ran 
to  him  and  found  him  dead.  Fear  or  remorse  seized  upon 
Tyrrel ;  he  mounted  his  horse  again,  and  galloping  to  the  sea- 
coast,  got  aboard  a  vessel,  passed  into  Normandy,  and  did  not 
rest  until  he  had  taken  refuge  upon  the  territory  of  the  King 
of  France. 

The  news  of  this  accident  had  become  known  in  the  for 
est;  but  no  one  gave  a  thought  to  the  dead  body  of  the 
king.  Henry  had  hastened  to  Winchester,  and  had  already 
put  his  hand  upon  the  keys  of  the  Royal  Treasury,  when 
William  of  Breteuil  joined  him  out  of  breath.  "  We  have 
all,"  he  said,  "  thou  as  well  as  I  and  the  barons,  sworn 
fidelity  and  homage  to  Duke  Robert  thy  brother  if  the  king 
should  die  first.  Absent  or  present,  right  is  right."  A 
quarrel  ensued,  and  it  was  with  sword  in  hand  that  Henry 
possessed  himself  of  the  treasure  and  the  royal  jewels. 
Meanwhile  a  charcoal-burner,  who  had  found  the  corpse  of 
the  monarch  in  the  forest,  was  bringing  it  to  Winchester 


126  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

wrapped  in  old  linen,  and  leaving  on  the  road  behind  the 
cart  a  long  trail  of  blood. 

The  partisans  of  Robert  in  England  were  not  numerous: 
they  had  no  leader.  The  duke  was  returning  from  Pales 
tine,  but  he  had  stopped  on  the  way  with  the  hospitable 
Normans,  sons  of  Robert  Guiscard,  established  in  Calabria  and 
in  Sicily.  He  had  even  married  there.  Henry  meantime  had 
taken  his  measures  and  had  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed 
there  by  the  barons  assembled  in  London.  The  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  Anselm,  had  been  expelled  from  England 
three  years  previously ;  the  archbishopric  of  York  was  vacant. 
It  was  the  custom  of  Rufus  to  delay  as  long  as  possible 
appointing  to  the  sees,  in  order  that  he  might  himself  enjoy 
their  revenues.  The  Bishop  of  London  crowned  the  new 
monarch.  Henry  Beau-Clerc,  as  he  was  called,  because  he  was 
fond  of  books  and  of  churchmen,  became  king  under  the 
title  of  Henry  the  First. 

Henry  was  more  popular  among  the  Saxons  than  his  two 
brothers  had  been.  Born  and  bred  in  England,  he  was  re 
garded  as  an  Englishman,  and  his  first  care  was  to  address 
himself  to  the  English,  who  were  more  powerful  than  is 
generally  believed,  and  who  after  all  still  formed  the  mass 
of  the  people  of  the  country.  "Friends  and  vassals,"  said 
he,  "  natives  of  the  country  in  which  I  was  born,  you  know 
that  my  brother  has  designs  upon  my  kingdom.  He  is  a 
proud  man,  who  cannot  live  in  peace  :  his  only  wish  is  to 
trample  you  under  his  feet.  On  the  other  hand  I,  as  a  mild 
and  pacific  sovereign,  intend  to  maintain  your  ancient  liberties 
and  to  govern  you  according  to  your  own  wishes  with  wisdom 
and  moderation.  I  will  give  you,  if  you  wish  it,  a  record  in 
my  own  hand.  Stand  firm  for  me  ;  for  while  I  am  seconded 
by  the  valor  of  the  English,  I  have  no  fear  of  the  foolish 
menaces  of  the  Normans." 


THE   DEATH   OP  THE   RED   KING. 


CHAP.  VL]  THE    NORMAN   KINGS.  127 

While  the  king  was  thus  giving  to  the  English  a  first  char 
ter,  which  proved  of  short  duration,  he  determined  to  seal  his 
promises  by  espousing  a  Saxon  woman.  He  had  cast  his  eyes 
on  Matilda,  daughter  of  Malcolm,  King  of  Scotland,  and  of 
Margaret  Atheling.  Matilda  had  been  reared  in  a  convent  in 
England  by  her  aunt  Christina  Atheling,  the  abbess.  The 
young  girl  hesitated :  she  had  already  been  sought  in  mar 
riage  by  several  noblemen,  and  it  was  repugnant  to  her  to  unite 
herself  with  the  enemy  of  her  race  and  country.  The  Nor 
mans  were  irritated  to  see  their  king  seeking  support  among 
their  enemies,  and  they  spread  the  report  that  Matilda  had 
taken  the  vows  as  a  nun  in  her  infancy.  It  was  necessary 
to  convoke  the  bishops  to  decide  the  question.  Anselm,  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury  (afterwards  St.  Anselm),  had  returned 
to  England.  He  had  always  been  just  towards  the  Saxons. 
When  his  patron  and  friend  Lanfranc  was  ridiculing  in  his 
presence  the  Saxon  devotion  to  St.  Alphege,  the  archbishop 
who  was  massacred  by  the  Danes,  Anselm  had  said,  "  For 
myself  I  regard  that  man  as  a  martyr,  and  a  true  martyr. 
He  preferred  to  face  death  rather  than  to  do  a  wrong  to  his 
countrymen.  He  died  for  justice,  as  John  died  for  the  truth, 
and  each  alike  for  Christ,  who  is  truth  and  justice."  At  the 
head  of  his  bishops  and  on  the  personal  testimony  of  Matilda, 
Anselm  declared  that  she  had  never  been  consecrated  to  God, 
and  the  marriage  took  place.  The  queen  was  beautiful,  char 
itable,  and  virtuous ;  but  she  exercised  little  influence  over  her 
husband,  and  was  not  able  to  prevent  his  often  oppressing  the 
people. 

Henry  had  banished  the  favorites  of  his  brother,  who  were 
odious  to  the  Saxons;  and  Ralph  Flambard,  who  had  been  a 
prisoner  in  the  Tower,  had  scarcely  escaped  from  that  fortress, 
when  he  heard  that  Duke  Robert  had  arrived  in  Normandy 
with  his  young  wife  Sibylla,  daughter  of  the  Count  of  Conver- 


128  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  VI. 

sano.  King  Henry  was  greatly  disquieted  by  the  news.  He 
had  been  careful  to  spread  abroad  the  report  that  his  brother 
had  accepted  the  crown  of  Jerusalem,  a  worthy  prize  of  his  ex 
ploits  in  the  Holy  Land.  The  discontent  of  a  certain  number 
of  Norman  barons,  and  their  disposition  to  offer  their  aid  to 
Robert,  compelled  him  more  and  more  to  depend  upon  the 
English  as  well  as  on  the  Church.  He  paid  court  to  An- 
selm,  and  when  Robert,  encouraged  by  Ralph  Flambard,  pub 
lished  his  declaration  of  war,  the  bishops  and  the  common 
people  of  England  were  all  on  the  side  of  King  Henry.  The 
Norman  barons  were  divided,  and  the  Saxon  sailors,  carried 
away  no  doubt  by  the  fame  which  Robert  had  acquired  in  the 
Crusades,  deserted  with  the  fleet.  It  was  in  vessels  constructed 
by  his  brother  that  Robert  crossed  with  his  army  to  English 
soil. 

Duke  Robert  was  undecided  and  wanting  in  settled  char 
acter,  but  he  was  brave,  and  his  affection  for  his  family  had 
resisted  the  disunion  which  had  so  long  prevailed  among  these 
three  brothers.  Long  before,  when  in  company  with  William 
Rufus  he  was  besieging  their  younger  brother,  now  King 
Henry,  but  then  only  an  adventurer  without  lands,  who  had 
seized  upon  Mont  St.  Michael,  the  supply  of  water  had  failed 
in  the  fortress,  and  the  besieged  prince  sent  to  ask  permission 
to  obtain  some.  Robert  consented,  to  the  great  vexation  of 
William  ;  he  even  sent  to  Henry  wine  for  his  table.  "  There 
is  nothing  now  left  to  do  but  to  send  him  provisions,"  said 
William  moodily.  "  What !  "  exclaimed  the  duke,  "  ought  I 
to  let  our  brother  die  of  thirst  ?  and  what  other  brother  should 
we  have  if  we  lost  him  ?  " 

Scarcely  had  Robert  set  foot  in  England  when  those  among 
the  Normans  who  were  averse  to  war  interposed  between  the 
two  brothers.  Once  more  Robert  renounced  his  pretensions 
to  the  kingdom  conquered  by  his  father.  Henry  ceded  to 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE   NORMAN    KINGS.  129 

him  the  fortresses  which  he  still  held  in  Normandy,  and  prom 
ised  to  pay  him  a  pension  of  three  thousand  marks  of  silver. 
A  general  amnesty  was  agreed  upon  on  both  sides. 

Treaties,  however,  were  scarcely  more  effectual  than  charters 
in  binding  King  Henry.  By  degrees  the  barons  who  had  taken 
the  side  of  Robert  were  expelled  from  their  domains  and 
banished  from  England.  The  chief  of  all,  Robert  of  Belesme, 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  had  given  ground  of  dissatisfaction  by 
raising  his  standard  when  he  had  been  called  on  to  appear 
before  the  royal  tribunal.  Besieged  in  Bridgnorth,  he  had 
friends  in  the  royal  camp  who  sought  to  reconcile  him  with 
the  king.  "  Do  not  listen  to  them,  King  Henry,"  cried  the 
English  infantry,  "  they  are  desirous  of  drawing  you  into  a 
snare.  We  are  here  and  will  aid  thee,  and  will  assault  the 
town  for  thee.  Make  no  peace  with  the  traitor  till  you  se 
cure  him  alive  or  dead."  Henry  pushed  on  with  the  siege  ; 
Bridgnorth  was  taken,  and  Robert  of  Belesme,  an  exile,  passed 
over  into  Normandy,  where  he  possessed  thirty  castles  and 
vast  domains,  which  Duke  Robert,  faithful  to  the  treaty,  had 
begun  to  ravage  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury 
in  revolt  against  his  sovereign.  In  his  chagrin  at  seeing  the 
amnesty  promised  in  his  name  to  the  barons  violated,  Robert 
went  himself  to  England,  placing  himself  defenceless  in  the 
hands  of  his  brother  in  order  to  intercede  for  his  friends. 
He  even  made  a  present  to  Queen  Matilda  of  one  thousand 
marks  of  silver  a  year,  part  of  the  three  thousand  marks  which 
her  husband  had  engaged  to  pay  him.  He  obtained  only 
vague  promises,  and  from  the  year  1104  the  resolution  of  King 
Henry  to  possess  himself  of  Normandy  began  again  to  show 
itself  clearly. 

Robert  had  lost  his  wife,  and  disorder  reigned  in  his  court. 
He  was  still  in  want  of  money ;  affairs  were  unsettled,  and 
Normandy  was  suffering  all  the  evils  of  a  weak  and  capricious 

VOL.  i.  17 


130  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

government.  Henry  openly  declared  himself  the  protector  of 
the  duchy  against  the  maladministration  of  his  brother.  "  I 
will  give  thee  money,"  he  wrote  to  him,  "  but  yield  to  me 
the  land.  Thou  hast  the  title  of  chief,  but  in  reality  thoii 
rulest  no  longer,  for  those  who  owe  thee  obedience  ridicule 
thee."  Robert  refused  this  proposal  with  indignation,  and 
Henry  began  his  preparations  for  invading  Normandy  with  an 
armed  force. 

The  wars  were  always  a  cruel  burden  for  the  people ;  the 
levies  of  money  necessary  for  the  equipment  of  soldiers  were 
ruinous  to  the  poor  citizens  and  the  unfortunate  peasants. 
Before  the  departure  of  Henry  for  Normandy,  crowds  of  country 
people  presented  themselves  on  the  road  by  which  the  king 
passed,  casting  at  his  feet  their  ploughshares  in  token  of  dis 
tress.  Nevertheless  the  king  set  out  and  met  his  brother  at 
Tinchebrai,  not  far  from  Mortagne.  The  struggle  was  fierce. 
The  military  talents  of  Robert  were  much  superior  to  those 
of  his  brother,  but  his  army  was  less  considerable,  and  there 
were  traitors  in  the  camp.  In  the  very  heat  of  the  contest 
Robert  of  Belesme  took  to  flight  with  his  division.  The 
duke  was  made  prisoner,  and  his  forces  were  completely  de 
feated.  Henry  at  the  same  time  seized  Edgar  Atheling,  once 
the  legitimate  claimant  of  the  crown,  the  uncle  of  Queen 
Matilda.  In  consideration  of  these  facts  he  was  allowed  his 
liberty  in  England,  and  received  from  the  king  a  small  pen 
sion,  which  enabled  him  to  end  his  days  in  such  complete 
obscurity  that  we  are  even  ignorant  of  the  date  of  his  death. 

Duke  Robert  was  not  fated  to  enjoy  a  captivity  so  mild. 
He  had  suffered  defeat  on  the  14th  of  October,  1106,  the 
anniversary  of  the  day  when  forty  years  previously  his  father 
had  won  the  battle  of  Hastings.  "God  thus  disposing,"  says 
the  chronicle,  "  that  Normandy  became  subject  to  England 
on  the  same  day  that  England  had  become  subject  to  Nor- 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE   NORMAN  KINGS.  131 

mandy."  Ralph  Flambard  had  regained  his  bishopric  of  Dur 
ham  by  giving  up  to  the  king  the  town  and  fortress  of 
Lisieux  ;  but  Robert  had  been  conveyed  to  England,  and 
lodged  in  the  castle  of  Cardiff,  in  Wales,  which  had  re 
cently  been  conquered  by  the  Normans.  He  enjoyed  there 
a  certain  amount  of  liberty,  and  hunted  in  the  surrounding 
forest.  One  day  he  leaped  on  to  his  horse  and  took  to 
flight.  He  was  not  well  acquainted  with  the  way ;  his  horse 
sank  into  a  bog.  He  was  captured  and  taken  back  to  his 
prison.  When  the  king  was  acquainted  with  this  attempt  at 
escape,  he  ordered  that  the  prisoner's  eyes  should  be  burned 
out  by  means  of  a  bason  of  red-hot  iron.  The  captivity  of 
the  unhappy  duke  became  complete ;  but  his  robust  constitu 
tion  withstood  all  these  misfortunes.  He  lived  twenty-eight 
years  in  his  prison,  blind  and  alone,  without  news  of  the  son 
whom  he  had  left  a  child  in  Normandy,  and  preserving  to 
the  last  the  dignified  pride  of  his  race.  One  day  some  new 
clothes  were  brought  to  him  from  the  king ;  Robert  handled 
them  and  discovered  that  one  of  them  was  unripped  at  the 
seam.  He  was  told  that  Henry  had  tried  on  the  doublet  and 
had  found  it  too  small  for  him.  The  duke  threw  all  the 
clothes  to  a  distance  off,  exclaiming,  "  So  then  my  brother,  or 
rather  my  traitor,  that  cowardly  clerk  who  has  disinherited 
and  deprived  me  of  sight,  holds  me  now  in  such  contempt  — 
I  who  was  once  held  in  such  honor  and  renown  —  that  he 
makes  me  alms  of  his  old  clothes  as  to  a  valet !  " 

Robert  was  nearly  eighty  years  of  age  when  he  died  in 
1135,  some  months  before  his  brother,  King  Henry.  He  had 
survived  in  his  captivity  and  suffering  almost  all  the  chief 
warriors  with  whom  he  had  fought  before  Jerusalem. 

Robert  had,  however,  a  son,  William  Cliton,  or,  as  they  soon 
afterwards  called  him,  William  of  Normandy ;  but  the  boy 
was  only  seven  years  old  when  his  uncle,  finding  himself  in 


132  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

possession  of  the  whole  of  Normandy,  began  to  besiege  Falaise, 
where  he  was  under  guard.  No  one  thought  of  declaring 
himself  in  favor  of  the  little  prince.  He  was  taken  and  con 
ducted  to  the  king.  The  child  cried  and  asked  for  mercy ; 
he  had  reason  to  tremble,  for  his  life  was  a  great  obstacle  to 
the  repose  of  his  uncle.  But  making  a  violent  effort  to  banish 
evil  thoughts,  the  king  desired  to  remove  the  little  William 
from  his  presence,  and  he  confided  him  to  a  faithful  servant 
of  his  household,  Helie  de  St.  Saen.  Some  time  afterwards  the 
king  had  changed  his  mind,  and  desired  to  take  back  the  little 
prince ;  but  Helie  carried  him  off  secretly,  and  both  took  refuge 
at  the  court  of  the  King  of  France,  Louis  the  Fat.  He  was 
there  growing  up  when  King  Henry  was  marrying  his  daugh- 
ter  Matilda,  aged  eight  years,  to  Henry  III.,  Emperor  of 
Germany.  The  marriage  of  an  eldest  daughter  was  one  of 
those  occasions  which  gave  the  right  to  the  feudal  lord  to 
levy  taxes  from  his  vassals,  and  King  Henry  used  this  right 
in  such  a  way  that  the  whole  English  people  groaned  under 
the  burden.  The  splendor  of  the  retinue  which  accompanied 
the  little  princess  on  her  departure  from  England  was  soon 
forgotten ;  but  when  she  returned  to  her  native  land,  people 
still  remembered  the  tears  which  her  marriage  had  cost. 

King  Louis  VI.  had  promised  William  Cliton  the  investiture 
of  Normandy,  when  in  1113  war  again  broke  out  between 
France  and  England.  It  lasted  for  two  years,  and  all  the 
castles  on  the  frontiers  were  captured  from  Henry.  His  able 
diplomacy  procured  him  in  1115  an  advantageous  treaty,  which 
assured  to  Prince  William  of  England  the  hand  of  Matilda 
of  Anjou,  daughter  of  the  Count  Fulke.  No  one  thought  of 
reserving  the  rights  of  William  Cliton  over  Normandy,  and 
when  the  great  Norman  barons  were  convoked  in  1117  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Prince  William,  no  claim  was 
advanced  in  favor  of  the  exile.  His  uncle  had  made  an 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE    NORMAN   KINGS.  133 

attempt  to  entice  him  into  England,  promising  him  the  gift 
of  three  large  counties ;  but  the  young  man  was  not  willing 
to  trust  himself  to  his  father's  jailer,  and  we  meet  with  him 
again  in  1119  at  the  head  of  a  confederation  formed  on  the 
Continent  against  King  Henry.  At  the  battle  of  Brenville, 
which  preceded  by  some  years  the  close  of  a  war  of  mingled 
success  and  disaster,  William  Cliton,  or  Fitz-Robert  as  he 
was  often  called,  penetrated  into  the  presence  of  his  uncle  ; 
but  his  knights  were  repulsed,  and  the  marriage  of  Prince 
William  with  Matilda  of  Anjou,  celebrated  sumptuously 
in  1120,  destroyed  the  hopes  which  his  cousin  had  con 
ceived.  King  Louis  accepted  the  homage  for  Normandy 
from  the  son  of  the  King  of  England,  thus  sparing  the  regal 
pride  of  Henry.  The  policy  of  this  prince  prevailed :  he  re 
solved  to  return  in  triumph  to  England,  and  on  the  25th  of 
November,  1120,  he  prepared  to  set  sail  from  the  little  port 
of  Barfleur,  when  a  mariner  well  known  upon  that  coast  ad 
vanced  towards  him,  presenting  a  mark  of  gold.  "  Stephen, 
son  of  Erard,  my  father,  served  yours  on  the  sea,"  said  he, 
"  and  it  was  he  who  steered  the  vessel  aboard  which  your 
father  sailed  for  the  conquest.  Sire  king,  I  entreat  you  to 
grant  me  in  fief  the  same  office.  I  have  a  vessel  called  the 
White  Ship,  well  fitted  out."  The  king's  ship  was  already 
prepared ;  he  promised  Stephen  to  give  him  as  passengers  the 
Prince  William  and  his  sister,  Lady  Mary,  Countess  of 
Perche.  The  White  Ship  was  a  large  vessel.  Three  hundred 
persons  went  aboard  her  as  he  set  sail.  The  king  had  pre 
ceded  them  on  the  sea,  but  Thomas  Fitz-Stephen  was  proud  of 
the  fast  sailing  of  his  vessel,  and  made  no  haste  to  depart, 
thinking  to  overtake  the  squadron  without  difficulty.  There 
was  dancing  and  drinking  upon  the  poop  of  the  vessel :  all 
the  company  were  excited  when  at  length  they  set  out. 
Night  had  come  on ;  the  moon  had  risen ;  the  wind  was  fresh. 


134  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

They  advanced  rapidly,  for  the  sailors  lent  aid  with  the  oars. 
They  were  coasting,  when  suddenly  the  ship  struck  upon  a 
rock  at  the  level  of  the  water,  then  called  the  Raz  de  Catte, 
now  the  Raz  de  Catteville.  The  White  Ship's  seams  were 
opened  by  the  shock,  and  she  began  to  fill  with  water.  The 
cry  of  terror  which  arose  from  those  aboard  reached  the  vessel 
of  the  king,  sailing  at  a  considerable  distance  ;  but  no  one 
understood  the  cause  of  the  noise.  Henry  disembarked  quietly. 
His  children  had  launched  a  boat  on  the  sea,  and  Prince 
William  had  entered  it  with  some  of  his  companions,  but  the 
cries  of  his  sister,  the  Lady  Mary,  induced  him  to  return  to 
the  foundering  vessel.  He  had  nearly  rescued  her,  when  the 
other  passengers,  driven  wild  with  despair,  sprang  in  a  mass 
into  the  feeble  skiff,  which  immediately  disappeared  with  all 
occupants.  The  vessel  sank  almost  at  the  same  instant.  Two 
men  only  clung  to  the  mast,  a  butcher  of  Rouen  and  a  young 
nobleman  named  Gilbert  de  Laigle.  For  a  moment  the  head 
of  Thomas  Fitz-Stephen  appeared  above  the  waves.  "  What 
has  become  of  the  king's  son?"  he  cried  to  the  two  survi 
vors.  "  He  has  disappeared  with  his  sister,  and  every  one  with 
him,"  they  replied.  "  Unhappy  me  ! "  exclaimed  the  pilot,  as 
he  plunged  again  into  the  waves.  Gilbert's  hands  were  frozen  ; 
he  relaxed  his  hold  of  the  mast  which  supported  him,  and 
was  drowned  before  the  eyes  of  his  companion,  who  was  wel] 
wrapped  in  his  sheepskin  and  hardened  against  the  effect  of 
rough  weather.  He  held  out  until  the  morning,  and  was  res 
cued  by  some  fishermen  on  the  coast.  From  his  lips  they 
learned  the  news  of  the  disaster  which  had  befallen  the  White 
Ship.  In  England  they  did  not  dare  to  apprise  King  Henry, 
who  was  awaiting  the  arrival  of  his  children.  At  length  a 
boy  presented  himself  before  him  and  fell  weeping  at  his  feet. 
Henry  assisted  him  to  rise,  and  the  child  related  the  story 
of  the  wreck  of  the  Norman  vessel.  "  And  from  that  time 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE    NORMAN  KINGS.  135 

the  king  was  never  seen  to  smile,"  say  the  chroniclers,  with 
out,  however,  expending  any  more  tenderness  over  the  fate 
of  Prince  William,  whose  pride  and  harshness  had  caused  ap 
prehensions  in  England.  "  If  I  ever  come  to  reign  over  these 
miserable  Saxons,"  he  was  accustomed  to  say,  "  I  will  compel 
them  to  draw  the  plough  like  oxen."  "  So  he  perished  on  a 
quiet  night  and  in  calm  weather,"  repeated  the  Saxons ;  "  and 
it  came  to  pass  that  his  head,  instead  of  being  encircled  by  a 
crown  of  gold,  was  broken  upon  the  rocks.  It  was  God  him 
self  who  decreed  that  the  son  of  the  Norman  should  not  behold 
England  again." 

King  Henry  had  no  male  heir,  although  he  had  married  for 
a  second  wife  the  Duke  of  Louvain's  daughter.  Many  of  the 
barons  seemed  inclined  to  rally  around  William  Fitz-Robert, 
who  had  lately  excited  another  revolt.  Henry  resolved  to 
settle  the  crown  upon  his  daughter,  the  Empress  Maud,  who 
had  lately  become  a  widow.  All  the  ability  of  the  king  could 
not  prevent  at  first  a  feeling  of  repugnance  among  the  great 
nobles  ;  but  the  royal  power  had  become  very  great,  supported 
as  it  was  by  the  antagonism  of  two  hostile  races  between 
whom  the  king  alone  held  the  balance.  The  Normans  yielded. 
On  Christmas  day,  1126,  the  Empress  Maud  was  declared 
heiress  to  the  kingdom ;  and  six  months  later  she  married 
Geoffrey  Plantagenet,*  son  of  Fulke,  Count  of  Anjou,  whose 
father  had  transferred  to  him  his  domains  on  setting  out 
for  the  Holy  Land.  Maud  had  for  some  time  resisted  the 
plans  of  her  father  for  her  marriage,  which  had  been  kept  so 
secret  that  the  barons  protested,  maintaining  that  the  king 
had  not  the  right  to  dispose,  without  their  approval,  of  their 
future  sovereign.  The  nuptial  festivities  lasted  three  weeks. 
Heralds,  armed  and  in  magnificent  costume,  traversed  the 

*  So  named  because  he  was  accustomed  to  wear  in  his  hat  a  branch  of  genet 
or  broom  (Planta  genista)  in  blossom. 


136  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [ CHIP.  VI. 

streets  and  squares  of  Rouen,  crying  aloud,  "  In  the  name 
of  King  Henry,  let  no  man  here  present,  inhabitant  or  stran 
ger,  dare  to  absent  himself  from  the  royal  rejoicings ;  for 
whosoever  shall  not  take  part  in  the  amusements  and  games 
shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  offence  towards  his  lord  the  king." 
Henry  had  obtained  the  oaths  of  all  the  barons,  but  he  had 
too  much  sense  and  knowledge  of  human  nature  not  to  be 
aware  how  precarious  the  future  situation  of  his  daughter 
must  be  if  his  nephew,  William  Fitz-Robert,  should  live  to 
dispute  the  throne.  The  young  prince  appeared,  indeed,  to 
be  destined  to  a  brilliant  future.  King  Louis  had  brought 
about  a  marriage  between  him  and  the  sister  of  his  wife,  a 
princess  of  Savoy,  and  he  had  given  to  her  for  a  portion 
Pontoise,  Chaumont,  and  the  Vexin.  Soon  afterwards  Charles 
the  Good,  Count  of  Flanders,  was  assassinated  in  the  church 
at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  Louis  entered  Flanders  for  the  pur 
pose  of  punishing  the  murderers,  and  the  count  not  having 
left  any  children,  Louis  conferred  his  domains  upon  William 
Fitz-Robert,  great-grandson  of  the  old  Count  Baldwin.  The 
young  count,  who  remained  in  his  new  territory,  had  soon  a 
cause  of  quarrel  with  a  certain  number  of  his  subjects,  who 
called  the  King  of  England  to  their  aid.  The  latter  supported, 
as  a  rival  to  his  nephew,  the  Landgrave  Thierry  of  Alsace, 
who  soon  made  himself  master  of  Lille,  of  Ghent,  and  other 
important  places.  The  son  of  Robert  Curthose,  however,  had 
inherited  the  military  talents  of  his  father  and  grandfather : 
he  completely  defeated  his  adversary  under  the  walls  of  Alost ; 
but  he  had  received  a  wound  in  the  hand  from  a  pike,  and 
this  injury,  at  first  regarded  as  of  little  importance,  turned 
to  gangrene.  William  was  carried  to  the  monastery  of  St. 
Omer,  where  he  died  on  the  27th  of  July,  1128.  He  was 
not  yet  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and  he  left  no  issue.  His 
last  care  had  been  to  recommend  to  the  clemency  of  his  uncle 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE  NORMAN    KINGS.  137 

the  Norman  barons  who  had  served  his  cause.  The  king  will 
ingly  pardoned  them,  so  rejoiced  was  he  to  be  delivered  from 
the  anxieties  which  his  nephew  caused  him.  Duke  Robert 
was  still  living ;  but  these  successes  had  no  more  effect  than 
the  death  of  his  son  upon  the  dreary  captivity  of  the  unfortu 
nate  blind  prisoner. 

The  Empress  Maud  and  her  husband  often  gave  trouble  to 
King  Henry  by  their  quarrels.  The  birth  of  their  eldest  son 
in  1133  for  a  moment  appeased  their  dissensions.  The  child 
was  christened  Henry,  after  his  grandfather,  and  the  Normans 
called  him  Henry  Fitz-Empress,  to  distinguish  him  from  the 
king,  whom  they  called  Henry  Fitz-William  Conqueror.  Two 
other  sons  were  born  to  Count  Geoffrey  Plantagenet,  and  the 
quarrels  recommenced.  The  count  claimed  Normandy,  which 
the  king  had  promised  to  relinquish  in  his  favor;  but  Henry 
still  refused.  He  was  no  more  disposed  than  his  father  had 
been  "  to  strip  himself  of  his  clothing  before  bedtime."  His 
strength,  however,  was  declining:  he  was  dejected.  On  the 
25th  of  November,  1135,  anxious  to  dispel  his  low  spirits,  he 
set  out  for  the  forest  of  Lion-la-Foret,  in  Normandy.  When 
he  returned  he  was  hungry,  and  at  supper  he  ate  greedily  of 
a  dish  of  lampreys,  which  his  physician  regarded  as  unwhole 
some.  His  digestion  was  disordered:  he  fell  ill  and  died  on 
the  1st  of  December,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  leaving  all  his 
domains  on  both  sides  of  the  sea  to  his  daughter  Maud  and 
her  descendants.  He  had  reigned  thirty-five  years ;  and,  with 
the  exception  of  some  unimportant  expeditions  against  the 
French,  England  had  enjoyed  peace  under  his  sway.  This 
great  blessing  had  been  sullied  by  many  crimes.  Neither 
plighted  faith  nor  natural  feeling  had  ever  impeded  Henry  I. 
in  his  ambitious  projects ;  but  he  had  placed  the  dominion  of 
the  Norman  race  in  England  on  such  solid  foundations  that 
the  troubles  which  followed  upon  his  death  could  not  shake 

VOL.  i.  18 


138  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

it ;  and  if  success  were  the  test  of  moral  worth,  Henry  Fitz- 
William  Conqueror  might  be  regarded  as  a  great  king. 

All  his  efforts  and  all  his  precautions,  however,  had  not 
enabled  him  to  secure  the  succession  to  his  daughter.  Scarcely 
had  he  breathed  his  last  when  his  nephew  Stephen,  son  of 
the  Count  of  Blois  and  of  Adela,  daughter  of  William  the 
Conqueror,  set  sail  immediately  for  England.  The  king  had 
always  treated  his  nephew  with  particular  favor :  he  had  given 
him  vast  fiefs  in  England.  The  Count  Stephen  was  very  pop 
ular  among  the  Normans  and  the  Saxons.  His  wife,  Maud, 
niece  of  Matilda,  first  wife  of  Henry  I.,  even  belonged  to  the 
royal  Saxon  family.  Stephen  boldly  laid  claim  to  the  throne, 
which  could  not,  he  said,  belong  to  a  woman.  He  was  descend 
ed  like  her  from  William  the  Conqueror,  and  in  the  same  de 
gree.  England  was  not  a  property  which  could  be  bequeathed 
at  pleasure  and  without  respect  for  the  wishes  of  the  people. 
Many  barons  were  of  Stephen's  opinion,  and  the  treasure  of 
King  Henry,  which  his  brother  the  Bishop  of  Winchester 
yielded  up  to  him,  secured  to  him  other  adherents.  The  chief 
minister  of  the  deceased  king,  Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury, 
whom  Henry  had  originally  remarked  and  attached  to  his 
person  as  "  the  readiest  priest  at  saying  a  mass  whom  he  had 
ever  met  with,"  allowed  himself  to  be  won  by  money.  Wil 
liam  Corbois,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  more  scrupulous, 
but  was  persuaded  that  the  king,  irritated  by  the  conduct 
of  his  daughter,  had  adopted  his  nephew  on  his  death-bed. 
Stephen  was  elected  by  the  barons  and  prelates,  who  con 
sidered  themselves  absolved  from  their  oath  towards  the  em 
press  because  she  had  married  without  their  consent  ;  and 
the  coronation  took  place  at  Westminster,  on  the  26th  of  De 
cember,  St.  Stephen's  Day.  The  Pope  confirmed  the  election 
with  the  more  readiness  because  Stephen  had  accepted  the 
oath  of  the  clergy,  under  the  condition  imposed  by  the  bishops, 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE   NORMAN  KINGS.  139 

of  respect  for  the  liberties  and  discipline  of  the  Church.  The 
barons  had  obtained  new  fiefs,  with  permission  to  fortify  their 
castles  and  to  construct  new  ones.  Those  who  were  greedy 
for  gain  received  money,  and  King  Stephen  was  in  such  high 
favor  on  both  sides  of  the  sea  that  when  Geoffrey  Plantagenet 
entered  Normandy  to  claim  the  rights  of  his  wife,  the  natural 
animosity  of  the  Normans  against  the  Angevins  broke  forth 
with  violence.  The  count  was  compelled  to  retire,  and  to 
conclude  with  Stephen  a  truce  for  two  years,  in  consideration 
of  a  pension  of  three  thousand  marks  of  silver.  The  king 
crossed  over  into  Normand}^  and  received  there  the  homage 
of  the  barons  ;  and  Louis  VII.,  surnamed  the  Young,  then  King 
of  France,  betrothed  his  young  sister  Constance  to  the  little 
Eustace,  son  of  Stephen,  granting  to  the  child  the  investiture 
of  Normandy. 

Among  the  barons  who  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Stephen  was  Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  a  natural  son  of  Henry 
I.,  who  had  renounced  all  rights  to  the  throne  in  favor  of  his 
sister,  the  Empress  Maud.  Like  her,  he  had  pretended  to 
yield,  but  like  her  he  had  not  abandoned  the  cause.  Main 
tained  in  the  possession  of  his  large  domains  through  his  oath 
of  fidelity,  he  crossed  from  Normandy  into  England,  and  very 
soon  the  tranquillity  which  had  reigned  there  gave  place  to 
a  secret  agitation.  Several  partial  risings  took  place ;  but 
these  were  only  the  precursors  of  the  great  insurrection  which 
Gloucester  was  preparing,  and  which  David,  King  of  Scotland, 
was  about  to  support  as  protector  of  the  rights  of  his  sister, 
the  Empress  Maud. 

The  mine  was  dug.  The  Earl  of  Gloucester  retired  into 
Normandy,  whence  he  wrote  to  Stephen,  solemnly  renouncing 
his  allegiance.  Other  great  barons  followed  his  example,  and, 
fortifying  themselves  in  their  castles,  overwhelmed  the  king 
with  reproaches,  accusing  him  of  having  failed  to  keep  his 


140  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

oath   towards    them.      "  Ah  !  "   exclaimed  Stephen,  "  the  trai 
tors  !  they  made  me  king,  and  now  they  desert  me ;  but,  by 
the   Nativity  of  God !   they   shall  never  make   me   a  deposed 
king ! "      In   this   perilous   situation   Stephen   displayed  great 
energy,  laying  siege  to   the  rebel  castles  one  after  the  other, 
and  disposing  largely  of  the  domains  of  the  crown  in  favor  of 
the  barons  who  were,  faithful  or  who  became  penitent.     Mean 
while   the   King  of  Scotland   had  entered   Northumberland  at 
the  head  of  a  numerous  army  from  the  Highlands  and  Low 
lands,  isles  and  mountains,  the  regular  troops  and  undisciplined 
savages,  knights  clad  in  iron,  the  best  lances  in  Europe,  and 
mountaineers   half  naked,   constituting  this   army  of  "  Scotch 
emmets,"  as  the  English  expressed  it,  covered  all  the  country 
extending  from  the  Tweed  to  the  north  of  the  county  of  York, 
ravaging  and  pillaging  on  their  way.     The  king  was  at  a  dis 
tance,  detained  by  the  insurrections  of  the  barons  in  the  South. 
The   northern   counties   defended   themselves.      The   Normans 
called  to  their  aid  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  those  Eng 
lish    who,   though    so    often    oppressed,    possessed    a   vitality 
which  resisted  every  form  of  tyranny.     They  united  with  their 
conquerors  to  defend  the  country    against   this  attack.      The 
Archbishop  of  York,  Toustain,  or  Thurstan,  a  decrepid  old  man, 
sinking  under  age  and  infirmities,  but  full  of  energy  and  fore 
sight,   caused   a  search   to   be   made   in   the   churches  for  the 
standards  of  St.  John  of  Beveiiey,   St.  Cuthbert  of  Durham, 
and   St.  Wilfred   of  Ripon,  which   had   remained  there   since 
the   Conquest.      They  raised   aloft  these   consecrated   banners 
upon  a   car  similar   to  the  caroccio  which  bore  the   standards 
of  the   Italian    Republics.      In   the   midst   of  the   flags   arose 
a  pedestal  bearing  the  tabernacle  and  the  sacred  host.      The 
English  surrounded  the    sacred   car,   with   their  longbows   in 
their  hands.     They  halted  at  Elfertun  (now  North  Allerton), 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Scotch.     There  was  a  dense  mist, 


'THE  ENGLISH  AND  NORMANS  AROSE,   EXCLAIMING   'AMEN.' 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE    NORMAN   KINGS.  141 

and  the  enemy  might  have  taken  the  English  army  by  sur 
prise,  but  for  Robert  Bruce  and  Bernard  Baliol,  who  possessed 
domains  in  England  and  Scotland.  The  former  of  these  two 
knights  approached  King  David.  "  O  king !  "  he  exclaimed, 
"  do  you  bear  in  mind  against  whom  you  are  going  to  fight  ? 
It  is  against  the  Normans  and  the  English,  who  have  so  often 
served  you  well  with  counsel  and  arms,  and  have  succeeded 
in  securing  to  you  the  obedience  of  your  people  of  Celtic 
race.  Remember  that  it  is  we  who  have  placed  these  tribes 
in  your  hands,  and  thence  arises  the  hatred  with  which  they 
are  animated  towards  our  countrymen."  "  These  are  the  words 
of  a  traitor,"  exclaimed  William,  nephew  of  the  King  of  Scot 
land.  At  the  same  instant  Malise,  Earl  of  Strathern,  was 
heard  to  exclaim,  "  What  need  have  we  of  this  stranger  ?  I 
have  no  breastplate,  and  yet  I  will  advance  as  far  as  any 
among  them."  The  old  Norman  turned  his  horse's  head.  "  I 
retract  my  oath  of  fidelity  and  homage,  O  king !  "  he  cried, 
and,  spurring  his  horse,  he  hastened  towards  the  English, 
with  Bernard  Baliol,  crying  out  that  the  Scotch  were  follow 
ing  them. 

The  Bishop  of  Durham  was  standing  erect  upon  the  sacred 
car,  as  representative  of  the  old  Archbishop  of  York.  He  pro 
nounced  absolution  in  a  loud  voice,  and  the  English  and  Nor 
mans,  who  had  been  kneeling,  arose,  exclaiming,  "  Amen  !  " 
The  Scotch  were  already  charging,  amidst  cries  of  "  Alban  ! 
Alban!"  the  historical  name  of  their  country.  Their  impet 
uous  attack  had  broken  the  ranks  of  the  English  ;  but  the 
Norman  cavalry,  in  close  order  around  the  car,  steadily  repulsed 
the  charge.  The  archers  formed  again,  and  began  to  harass 
the  mountaineers  with  their  shafts ;  the  long  pikes  of  the  men 
of  Galloway  were  broken  upon  the  Norman  bucklers ;  the  clay 
mores  of  the  Highlanders  could  not  pierce  their  breastplates. 
The  fight  lasted  two  hours,  and  the  confusion  was  terrible. 


142  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

Prince  Henry,  son  of  the  King  of  Scotland,  had  succeeded  in 
cleaving  a  way  up  to  the  standards,  but  he  was  repulsed. 
The  lances  and  the  swords  were  broken.  The  fury  of  the 
attack  abated  ;  the  retreat  soon  became  a  rout,  protected  only 
by  King  David  and  his  corps  of  knights,  who  had  rallied 
around  him.  The  Scotch  took  refuge  in  Carlisle,  where  the 
English  did  not  attack  them.  The  treaty  of  peace,  which  was 
concluded  in  the  following  year,  even  left  Cumberland,  West 
moreland,  and  Northumberland  in  the  power  of  Scotland. 

The  defeat  of  the  Scots  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard  had 
cooled  the  ardor  of  the  malcontents.  The  Empress  Maud  and 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester  had  not  yet  appeared  in  England ; 
but  King  Stephen  committed  a  grave  error.  He  alienated 
from  himself  the  attachment  of  the  clergy,  who  up  to  that 
time  had  been  favorable  to  him,  by  suddenly  casting  into 
prison  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  one  of  the  partisans  who  had 
had  the  greatest  share  in  his  elevation,  and  whom  he  had  up 
to  then  loaded  with  wealth  and  honors.  "  By  the  Nativity 
of  God,"  he  exclaimed  to  one  of  his  attendants,  "  I  would 
give  him  one  half  of  England  if  he  asked  it.  He  should 
grow  weary  of  asking  before  I  would  grow  weary  of  giving, 
until  the  day  when  he  should  be  dumb."  That  day  had  appar 
ently  arrived,  for  Roger  of  Salisbury  and  his  two  nephews, 
Bishops  of  Lincoln  and  Ely,  were  suddenly  arrested.  The 
Bishop  of  Ely  succeeded  in  escaping  and  taking  refuge  in  a 
fortress.  He  defended  himself  valiantly ;  but  they  threatened 
to  starve  to  death  his  uncle  and  his  brother  if  he  did  not 
yield.  The  manners  of  the  time  were  such  that  there  was 
reason  to  fear  the  execution  of  the  threat.  The  Bishop  of 
Ely  surrendered,  and  the  king  took  possession  of  the  property 
of  the  three  prelates  ;  but  he  had  irritated  a  dangerous  enemy. 
His  own  brother,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  the  Legate 
of  the  Pope  in  England,  summoned  him  to  appear  before  a 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE   NORMAN    KINGS.  143 

Synod  of  bishops  to  answer  for  this  breach  of  the  privileges 
of  the  Church.  It  was  necessary  to  appeal  to  the  Pope  against 
the  prelates,  and  to  disperse  the  Synod  by  force.  The  Bishop 
of  Salisbury  died  shortly  afterwards  — "  of  chagrin,"  say  the 
chronicles.  His  nephews  embraced  the  cause  of  the  Empress, 
and  a  great  part  of  the  clergy  followed  their  example.  The 
Synod  had  just  been  dissolved  (September,  1139),  when  Maud 
at  length  disembarked  in  England  with  one  hundred  knights 
only.  Some  Normans  went  to  meet  her,  but  finding  her  so 
ill  attended,  they  kept  back.  King  Stephen  swept  down  upon 
Arundel  Castle,  where  resided  Queen  Adelais,  widow  of  Henry 
I.  He  found  her  engaged  in  assisting  her  daughter-in-law, 
who  had  just  arrived.  A  chivalrous  sentiment  restrained  Ste 
phen  from  insulting  the  two  princesses.  He  left  Adelais  in 
peaceable  possession  of  the  castle,  and  the  empress  was  able 
to  proceed  and  meet  her  brother  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who 
was  endeavoring  to  revive  the  discontent  in  the  counties  of 
the  West,  Her  partisans  soon  rallied  round  her,  and  raising 
her  standard  she  attacked  the  king.  Sometimes  she  was 
defeated,  sometimes  victorious  ;  and  for  eighteen  months  Eng 
land  was  afflicted  by  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  At  last  a  deci 
sive  combat  near  Lincoln  resulted  in  King  Stephen  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester.  He  was  cast  into  con 
finement  in  Bristol  Castle.  The  barons  who  had  followed  him 
hastened  to  the  empress,  made  peace  with  her,  and  acknowl 
edged  her  right  to  the  crown,  the  Legate  and  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  being  foremost.  On  the  7th  of  April  a  meeting 
of  bishops,  again  presided  over  by  the  Legate,  ratified  the 
accession  of  Maud,  absolving  all  the  barons  and  the  prelates 
from  their  oath  towards  Stephen  ;  but  the  empress  was  obliged 
to  allow  some  months  to  elapse  before  her  coronation  at  West 
minster,  so  attached  were  the  citizens  of  London  to  the  cause 
of  the  vanquished  king. 


144  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI.' 

Maud  was  haughty,  and  she  lacked  the  tact  and  prudence 
so  necessary  to  sovereigns  whose  throne  is  insecure.  She 
harshly  refused  to  give  to  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  the  pat 
rimonial  lands  of  King  Stephen,  which  he  claimed  on  behalf 
of  his  nephew,  Prince  Eustace  ;  and  thus  she  mortally  offended 
that  proud  prelate.  On  arriving  in  London,  she  demanded 
immediately  an  enormous  tollage.  "  The  king  has  left  us 
nothing,"  said  the  citizens  piteously.  "  I  understand,"  replied 
the  new  queen,  "you  have  given  everything  to  my  adversary, 
and  you  desire  me  to  spare  you."  London  ended  the  dispute 
by  promising  to  pay,  presenting  at  the  same  time  an  humble 
petition.  "Restore  to  us  (they  implored)  the  good  laws  of 
King  Edward,  thy  great  uncle,  in  the  place  of  those  of  thy 
father,  King  Henry  I.,  which  are  bad  and  too  harsh  towards 
us."  The  queen  rudely  repulsed  the  petitioners,  and  she  was 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  promised  gold  when  the  bells  of 
the  city  suddenly  sounded  the  alarum.  From  each  house  issued 
a  combatant  armed  with  an  axe,  a  bar  of  iron,  or  a  bow, 
"like  bees  issuing  from  a  hive,"  says  the  chronicle;  all  took 
the  direction  of  the  palace.  At  the  same  time  a  troop  of 
armed  men,  carrying  the  banner  of  Queen  Matilda,  wife  of  Ste 
phen,  presented  themselves  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  upon 
the  Surrey  side.  The  empress  was  at  table ;  she  sprang  upon 
her  horse  and  fled  by  the  western  gate,  accompanied  only  by 
some  servants,  while  the  multitude  pillaged  the  hall  which  she 
had  just  quitted.  She  was  destined  never  to  return  to  London. 

The  empress  took  refuge  at  Oxford.  She  had  conceived 
some  doubts  with  regard  to  the  fidelity  of  the  Bishop  of  Win 
chester,  whom  she  sent  for.  "  Say  that  I  am  preparing," 
replied  the  prelate.  The  queen  had  conceived  the  design  of 
surprising  him  in  his  episcopal  city ;  but  at  the  moment  when 
she  entered  by  one  gate  she  saw  him  go  forth  by  another, 
on  his  way  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  partisans  of 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE    NORMAN  KINGS.  145 

his  brother.  The  queen  gathered  her  adherents  about  her; 
but  the  bishop  had  returned,  and  he  laid  siege  to  Winchester, 
where  the  King  of  Scotland  and  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  had 
joined  Queen  Matilda.  All  military  operations  had  been  sus 
pended  for  the  festival  of  the  Holy  Cross  (14th  September, 
1141),  when  at  daybreak  Maud  mounted  her  horse,  accompa 
nied  by  a  good  escort,  and  silently  departed  from  the  royal 
castle.  She  passed  without  serious  difficulties  through  the 
camp  of  the  besiegers,  who  were  occupied  in  the  ceremonies 
of  the  day.  When  the  pursuit  commenced,  Maud  was  already 
drawing  near  to  the  castle  of  Devizes ;  but  she  did  not  feel 
herself  to  be  safe  here,  thoroughly  as  that  place  had  been  forti 
fied  by  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  she  continued  her  course. 
The  Earl  of  Hereford  alone  accompanied  her  as  far  as  Glouces 
ter.  The  King  of  Scotland  had  set  out  for  his  kingdom,  but 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester  was  taken  prisoner.  A  great  number 
of  his  adherents  were  disguised  as  peasants,  but  their  Norman 
accent  betrayed  them,  and  the  English  hinds  seizing  this  occa 
sion  to  wreak  vengeance  on  their  oppressors,  arrested  them, 
and,  whip  in  hand,  conducted  them  into  the  enemy's  camp. 

The  two  parties  were  without  leaders,  for  Matilda  could 
do  nothing  without  her  brother.  It  was  resolved  to  exchange 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester  for  King  Stephen,  and  in  a  grand  council 
of  bishops,  convened  on  the  7th  of  December  by  the  Legate, 
the  latter  hurled  all  the  thunders  of  the  Church  against  the 
partisans  of  the  Countess  of  Anjou  (by  which  name  he  de 
scribed  Maud),  as  he  had  done  on  the  7th  of  April  against 
the  adherents  of  the  Count  of  Blois.  The  war  continued  in 
England  and  Normandy :  the  Count  of  Anjou  had  subjected 
that  great  province,  but  he  refused  to  cross  the  sea  to  join 
his  wife,  arid  contented  himself  with  sending  his  eldest  son, 
Henry,  into  England  with  his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Gloucester. 
At  the  moment  when  the  young  prince  landed  in  the  country 

VOL.  I.  19 


146  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  VI. 

where  he  was  destined  to  establish  his  race,  his  mother  was 
besieged  in  Oxford  by  King  Stephen.  The  winter  was  one 
of  great  severity,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  nation  were  unpar 
alleled.  The  barons  fortified  themselves  each  in  his  castle, 
"  and  even  in  the  churches,"  say  the  chronicles,  adding,  that 
"  they  dug  trenches  in  the  churchyards,  exposing  to  the  day 
light  the  bones  of  the  dead.  From  thence  armed  men  pillaged 
the  towns  and  villages,  the  passers-by,  and  the  lonely  cottages. 
It  was  possible  to  walk  all  day  without  meeting  a  man  upon 
the  road,  or  seeing  an  acre  of  land  in  cultivation  —  for  to  till 
the  earth  was  like  tilling  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore.  Never 
had  the  pagan  pirates  inflicted  worse  evils." 

The  siege  of-  Oxford  lasted  three  months ;  the  snow  covered 
the  ground.  Maud  found  herself  on  the  point  of  perishing 
by  famine.  She  attired  herself  in  white,  as  did  three  knights 
of  her  suite,  and  the  four  issued  by  a  little  postern,  and  trav 
ersed  the  deserted  country  as  far  as  the  town  of  Abingdon, 
where  they  obtained  horses.  The  castle  of  Oxford  surrendered 
on  the  morrow ;  but  Stephen  was  soon  afterwards  defeated 
before  Wilton  by  the  Earl  of  Gloucester. 

In  the  midst  of  these  alternate  successes  and  disasters,  the 
burden  of  which  weighed  equally  and  constantly  on  the 
people,  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  died  (1147).  His  nephew, 
whom  he  had  kept  in  Bristol  Castle,  in  order  to  protect  him 
against  his  enemies,  returned  into  Normandy,  and  shortly 
afterwards  the  empress  herself,  deprived  of  all  support,  relin 
quished  the  part  she  had  played  with  so  much  fortitude  for 
eight  years  in  order  to  return  to  France.  King  Stephen  was 
now  master  of  the  situation ;  but  his  throne,  shaken  under 
him,  was  not  destined  to  become  firm  again. 

Pope  Innocent  II.,  the  protector  of  the  Bishop  of  Winches 
ter,  had  just  died.  Celestine  II.  and  Lucius  II.  had  enjoyed  the 
pontifical  throne  only  for  the  briefest  space.  Anastasius  II. 


ESCAPE   OF   THE   EMPRESS   MAUD   FROM   OXFORD. 


BISHOP   ODO   MARCHING   OUT   OF   ROCHESTER. 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE  NORMAN  KINGS.  147 

withdrew  the  title  of  Legate  from  the  king's  brother,  and 
granted  it  to  his  adversary  Theobald,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
Stephen  had  taken  a  part  in  the  quarrel  of  his  brother  with 
the  archbishop,  whom  he  had  exiled ;  and  a  part  of  the  king 
dom  had  been  placed  under  an  interdict.  The  Church  was 
too  strong  for  a  sovereign  so  feeble ;  Stephen  was  compelled 
to  cede  great  estates  to  the  clergy,  and  to  be  reconciled  with 
Theobald.  But  in  vain  he  sought  to  obtain  the  recognition 
of  his  eldest  son  Eustace  as  his  successor ;  the  archbishop  con 
stantly  refused  his  countenance  ;  the  quarrels  broke  out  afresh, 
and  the  episcopal  domains  were  confiscated  in  several  places. 
So  long  as  King  Stephen  had  to  contend  only  against  a 
woman,  however  divided  England  was,  he  had  the  best  chances 
of  success  ;  but  his  new  rival,  Henry,  was  sixteen  years  of  age  : 
he  had  just  been  knighted  in  Scotland  (1149)  by  his  uncle, 
King  David,  and  on  his  return  he  received  from  his  uncle 
the  investiture  of  Normandy.  In  1150  Geoffrey  of  Anjou 
died,  and  his  domains  reverted  to  his  eldest  son,  who  two 
years  later  married  Queen  Eleanora,  the  divorced  wife  of 
King  Louis  the  Young.  She  brought  him  as  her  portion 
the  county  of  Poitou  and  the  duchy  of  Aquitaine.  He  was 
nineteen  years  of  age ;  his  personal  reputation,  like  his  power, 
was  growing  daily.  The  party  of  the  Plantagenets  in  England 
began  to  raise  their  heads,  and  when  the  prince  landed  in 
1153,  with  an  army  small  in  number  but  strong  in  discipline, 
many  adherents  came  to  take  service  under  his  banner.  King 
Stephen  had  also  gathered  together  his  forces,  and  the  two 
rivals  found  themselves  face  to  face  at  Wallingford,  separated 
only  by  the  Thames.  They  remained  there  two  days  without 
coming  to  blows.  At  length  the  Earl  of  Arundel  had  the 
courage  to  declare,  that  it  was  a  folly  to  prolong  the  sufferings 
of  an  entire  nation  for  the  sake  of  the  ambition  of  two  princes. 
It  was  resolved  to  sign  a  truce  with  a  view  to  negotiate  a 


148  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VI. 

permanent  peace.  About  that  time  Eustace,  the  eldest  son 
of  Stephen,  died  in  consequence  of  great  excesses.  The  king 
had  now  only  one  son,  who  was  still  young  and  not  ambi 
tious.  The  two  rival  ecclesiastics,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester 
and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  conducted  the  negotiations, 
and  on  the  7th  of  November,  1153,  in  a  solemn  council  held 
at  Winchester,  King  Stephen  adopted  Prince  Henry  as  a  son, 
giving  the  kingdom  of  England  as  an  inheritance  to  him  and 
his  descendants  forever.  Henry  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  and 
homage,  receiving  in  his  turn  the  allegiance  of  Prince  Wil 
liam,  the  son  of  Stephen,  on  whom  he  conferred  all  the  pat 
rimonial  lands  of  his  father.  A  year  later,  on  the  25th  of 
October,  1154,  King  Stephen  expired  at  Dover  in  his  fiftieth 
year.  For  a  while,  at  least,  civil  war  was  to  cease  to  deso 
late  England. 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  149 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HENRY    II.      1154-1189. 

WHEN  King  Henry  II.  ascended  the  throne  in  1154, 
he  was  the  most  powerful  monarch  that  had  ever 
reigned  in  England,  and  one  of  the  most  powerful  in  Chris 
tendom.  To  his  hereditary  possessions,  Anjou,  Normandy,  and 
Maine,  and  his  beautiful  kingdom  of  England,  he  had  added 
by  his  marriage  with  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  Poitou  and  Aqui- 
taine,  which  comprised  Saintonge,  Auvergne,  Perigord,  Limou 
sin,  Angoumois,  and  Guienne.  He  was  ambitious  and  greedy 
of  power.  His  father,  who  knew  him  well,  had  provided  by 
his  will  that  Anjou  should  return  to  his  second  son  Geoffrey,  if 
the  eldest  should  become  King  of  England,  and  in  order  to 
secure  this  arrangement  he  had  forbidden  his  own  interment 
before  Henry  should  have  sworn  to  conform  to  it.  The  prince 
hesitated  long,  then  took  the  oath,  and  Count  Geoffrey  Plan- 
tagenet  was  consigned  to  the  tomb.  But  Henry  had  become 
king,  and  his  brother  had  claimed  the  execution  of  his  promise. 
The  monarch  contrived  to  be  relieved  of  his  oath  by  Nicholas 
Breakspeare,  who  had  been  raised  to  the  pontifical  dignity 
under  the  name  of  Adrian  IV.,  the  only  Englishman  who  has 
ever  become  Pope.  Henry  Plantagenet  retained  Anjou,  the 
cradle  of  that  family  which  he  was  destined  to  render  so 
powerful. 

When  the  new  king  landed  in  England,  six  weeks  after 
the  death  of  Stephen,  he  found  his  kingdom  a  prey  to  hor 
rible  anarchy.  In  the  intervals  of  their  power,  Maud  and 


150  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

Stephen  had  both  endeavored  to  attach  to  themselves  the 
great  nobles  by  important  grants  of  lands  and  castles :  hence 
the  royal  domains  were  reduced  to  insignificance,  and  were 
surrounded  on  all  sides  by  menacing  fortresses  guarded  by 
resolute  soldiers  who  recognized  no  authority  but  that  of  their 
chiefs.  Many  of  these  fortresses  were  in  the  hands  of  Flemish 
and  Brabantine  mercenaries  whom  each  party  in  turn  had 
summoned  to  their  assistance.  It  was  by  dealing  with  these 
men  that  Henry  began  the  reforms  which  he  reckoned  upon 
introducing  into  the  condition  of  territorial  property.  On 
a  given  day,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  Normans  and  Saxons,  he 
ordered  all  foreigners  to  leave  the  kingdom.  "  We  saw  them 
(says  a  chronicler),  we  saw  all  those  Braban tines  and  Flem 
ings  recross  the  sea  to  return  to  their  plough-tails,  and  from 
being  lords  become  serfs  again." 

The  expulsion  of  the  foreign  mercenaries  had  been  popular  ; 
but  this  was  not  the  principal  object  of  the  king,  who  desired 
to  reconstitute  the  royal  domain,  and  with  that  object  convoked 
a  grand  council,  which  admitted,  though  not  without  difficulty, 
that  Henry  was  under  the  necessity  of  revoking  the  grants 
made  by  Stephen  and  Maud.  The  king  was  not  more  sparing 
of  the  partisans  of  his  mother  than  of  her  enemies.  From 
the  moment  that  right  was  on  his  side  he  never  stopped  in 
his  efforts :  from  castle  to  castle,  from  domain  to  domain,  he 
triumphed  over  the  malcontents,  either  by  the  sword  or  by 
negotiation.  When  he  became  master  of  one  fortress  he  in 
stantly  had  it  razed  to  the  ground.  In  this  way  eleven  hun 
dred  castles  disappeared  from  the  face  of  England ;  they  had 
been  mere  haunts  of  robbers  who  oppressed  the  country  round 
about.  The  peasants  and  the  townspeople  applauded  the  work 
of  destruction. 

King  Henry  had  already  triumphed  over  his  vassals,  and 
defeated  his  brother  Geoffrey,  who  had  refused  to  acquiesce  in 


THE   CATHEDRAL   AT   NANTES. 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY   II.  151 

his  spoliation.  He  had  compelled  him  to  take  refuge  at  Nantes, 
the  population  of  which  town  had  offered  him  the  government. 
In  1157  he  came  to  the  determination  to  bring  to  an  end 
the  struggle  with  the  Welsh,  who  were  still  fighting  proudly 
for  their  independence.  But  Henry  did  not  know  well  that 
country  of  mountains  and  defiles.  He  became  entangled  in 
the  environs  of  the  forest  of  Coleshill,  and  the  Welsh  sallying 
forth  in  a  mass  from  the  obscure  lurking-places  where  they 
had  been  lying  in  ambush,  fell  upon  the  English  army.  The 
massacre  was  great.  The  Earl  of  Essex,  hereditary  standard- 
bearer  of  the  crown,  let  fall  the  royal  banner,  and  took  to 
flight.  The  rumor  spread  abroad  at  once  that  the  king  was 
killed,  but  he  soon  rallied  his  troops  and  effected  his  retreat 
to  a  more  open  country,  where  he  pitched  his  camp,  and 
thence  inflicted  so  much  annoyance  on  the  Welsh,  that,  with 
out  venturing  a  second  time  upon  a  fixed  battle,  they  consented 
to  restore  to  Henry  the  territory  which  they  had  won  back 
from  Stephen,  and  to  swear  fidelity  and  homage  to  him  for 
the  lands  which  they  retained.  The  struggles  of  King  Henry 
with  the  Welsh  were  not  ended.  Repeated  insurrections  were 
destined  to  recall  him  into  the  mountains  ;  but  he  succeeded 
nevertheless  in  securing  and  extending  his  dominion  over  that 
indomitable  population,  proud  of  the  antiquity  of  their  race, 
and  convinced  that  all  England  belonged  to  them  by  right 
of  birth. 

Geoffrey  had  lately  died  at  Nantes  (1158),  and  his  brother 
claimed  that  city  as  belonging  to  him  by  right  of  inheritance. 
In  vain  the  citizens  protested :  in  vain  Conan,  Duke  of  Brit 
tany,  and  Earl  of  Richmond  in  England,  maintained  the  rights 
of  his  vassals,  King  Henry  confiscated  the  lands  of  the  Earl 
of  Richmond,  and  crossed  the  sea  with  so  powerful  an  army 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Nantes  were  terrified  and  opened  their 
gates  to  him.  Henry  immediately  took  possession  of  all  the 


152  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  VII. 

territory  between  the  Loire  and  the  Vilaine,  and  proposed  to 
the  duke  to  terminate  their  differences  by  affiancing  his  daugh 
ter  Constance  to  Geoffrey,  the  third  of  the  English  princes. 
In  order  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  King  of  France,  Louis 
VII.,  to  this  increase  of  his  power  upon  French  soil,  Henry 
had  sought  the  hand  of  Margaret  of  France  on  behalf  of  Henry, 
his  eldest  son. 

This  gleam  of  a  good  understanding  between  the  great 
powers  of  the  earth  was  very  soon  disturbed  by  new  ambitious 
dreams  of  Henry  Plantagenet.  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine  had,  or 
believed  herself  to  have,  through  her  grandmother,  claims  to 
the  countship  of  Toulouse.  Her  first  husband,  Louis  VII., 
had  relinquished  those  rights  by  treaty  after  an  attempt  to 
seize  them  by  force  of  arms ;  but  by  virtue  of  the  divorce, 
Eleanor  had  vested  her  pretensions  in  her  second  husband, 
Henry,  King  of  England,  who  claimed  the  cession  pure  and 
simple  of  the  countship  by  Raymond  of  St.  Gilles,  Count  of 
Toulouse.  The  latter  invoked  the  aid  of  his  suzerain  lord, 
the  King  of  France.  In  the  prospect  of  this  distant  struggle, 
Henry  commuted  the  military  service  which  his  vassals  were 
bound  to  render  into  a  tax,  and  by  means  of  this  money 
he  secured  the  services  of  an  army  of  Brabantines.  With 
these  marched  Malcolm,  King  of  Scotland,  and  the  King  of 
Aragon,  who,  like  the  King  of  France  and  the  Duke  of  Brit 
tany,  had  lately  affianced  his  daughter  to  one  of  the  sons 
of  Henry,  —  and  the  most  warlike  of  the  English  barons. 
But  Louis  VII.  had  already  entered  Toulouse,  when  Henry 
advanced  against  that  city.  Louis  had  but  few  troops  with 
him,  and  the  King  of  England  might  easily  have  attempted  an 
assault;  scruples  based  upon  his  position  of  vassal  of  his 
lord,  however,  restrained  him.  When  the  French  army  had 
joined  Louis  VII.  a  few  feats  of  arms  of  little  importance  soon 
brought  the  war  to  an  end ;  but  it  had  left  indelible  traces. 


THE   SARACEN   PRINCESS   SEEKING   GILBERT   BECKET. 


THE   CRUSADERS'   MARCH. 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  153 

The  inhabitants  of  the  south  of  France  had  acquired  the  habit 
of  calling  to  their  aid  sometimes  the  King  of  France,  some 
times  the  King  of  England,  and  their  independence  was  des 
tined  to  succumb  under  these  powerful  protectors.  It  was 
so  well  known  upon  the  banks  of  the  Garonne  that  the  south 
ern  provinces  were  at  peace  when  their  dangerous  allies  were 
quarrelling  elsewhere,  that  people  openly  asked,  in  the  form 
of  a  prayer,  "  When  will  the  truce  between  the  English  and 
the  Tournois  come  to  an  end  ? " 

In  the  midst  of  these  wars  and  negotiations,  these  invasions 
and  these  treaties,  King  Henry  relied  on  all  sides  upon  the 
advice  and  support  of  Thomas  Becket,  or  a  Becket,  Chancellor 
of  England,  the  son  of  Gilbert  a  Becket,  a  merchant  of  the 
city  of  London,  of  Norman  origin.  A  romantic  story  attaches 
to  the  birth  of  Thomas  Becket.  It  is  related  that  the  busy 
passers-by  in  the  streets  of  London  had,  to  their  great  sur 
prise,  observed  one  day  a  woman  wearing  Oriental  costume, 
who  was  wandering  about  repeating  the  name  of  Gilbert.  To 
questions  put  to  her  she  gave  no  answer,  and  she  knew  no 
other  English  words  than  "  Gilbert "  and  "  London."  A 
crowd  had  begun  to  gather  around  her,  when  she  was  recog 
nized  by  a  servant  who  had  accompanied  Gilbert  Becket  to 
the  crusades.  Both  had  been  made  prisoners  and  had  suc 
ceeded  in  escaping:  but  the  daughter  of  the  Emir  who  had 
held  them  captive  had  conceived  a  passion  for  Gilbert ;  she 
had  followed  his  traces  to  the  shore,  and  had  found  means 
of  going  to  England,  and  then  to  London,  without  any  other 
guide  to  the  whereabouts  of  him  she  loved  than  this  name 
of  Gilbert,  at  that  time  a  very  common  name.  Becket  con 
sulted  his  confessor  ;  the  Saracen  princess  was  baptized  under 
the  name  of  Matilda,  and  Gilbert  married  her.  Her  husband 
made  a  great  fortune,  and  his  son  Thomas,  a  handsome  and 
intelligent  youth,  had  been  brought  up  with  great  care,  then 

VOL.  i.  20 


154  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

sent  into  France  and  Italy  to  finish  his  education.  He  had 
been  taken  notice  of  from  his  childhood  by  Theobald,  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury,  who  took  him  into  his  house  as  soon 
as  he  had  completed  his  studies,  and  employed  him  in  the 
most  delicate  diplomatic  affairs,  when,  at  the  accession  of  King 
Henry  II.,  he  himself  fulfilled  the  functions  of  prime  minister. 
The  king  took  a  liking  to  the  young  archdeacon,  and  in  1156 
appointed  him  chancellor,  at  the  same  time  confiding  to  him 
the  education  of  his  eldest  son.  He  also  made  him  Constable 
of  the  Tower,  with  the  custody  of  considerable  domains.  The 
ecclesiastical  benefices  often  vacant,  which  the  chancellor  was 
in  no  haste  to  fill  up,  caused  to  flow  into  the  treasury  the 
rich  revenues  of  the  bishoprics  and  abbeys.  Gilbert  Becket 
was  dead,  and  his  son  had  inherited  a  great  fortune.  He 
was  forty  years  of  age,  elegant  in  his  person,  magnificent  in 
his  attire,  skilled  in  all  bodily  exercises,  and  at  the  same  time 
learned,  courageous,  enterprising,  and  able.  The  king,  who  saw 
only  through  his  eyes,  kept  him  incessantly  at  his  side,  and 
could  not  endure  his  absence.  Becket  kept  a  splendid  retinue 
remarkable  even  at  that  period  of  magnificent  extravagance. 
His  house  was  filled  with  knights  and  the  sons  of  great  lords, 
who  designed  to  secure  by  this  means  the  favor  of  the  king, 
and  to  bring  up  their  children  in  the  manners  of  the  court. 
His  sumptuously  furnished  table  was  open  to  all  comers,  and 
when  a  diplomatic  mission  led  the  chancellor  abroad,  the  reti 
nue  which  accompanied  him  was  so  magnificent  and  so  numer 
ous  that  the  spectators  exclaimed,  "  What  must  the  King 
of  England  be,  when  his  servant  travels  with  such  pomp?" 
It  was  in  this  way  that  Thomas  Becket  presented  himself  at 
the  French  court  to  negotiate  in  the  affair  of  Brittany  and 
the  alliance  of  Prince  Henry  with  Margaret  of  France.  With 
similar  grand  display,  although  of  a  different  nature,  he  accom 
panied  the  king  in  his  campaign  through  the  countship  of 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  155 

Toulouse,  of  which  he  directed  in  person  the  greater  part  of 
the  operations.  He  was  at  the  head  of  seven  hundred  knights 
and  men-of-arms,  supported  at  his  expense,  when  he  attacked 
the  town  of  Cahors  and  the  castles  which  surrounded  it.  His 
sagacity,  his  good  humor,  his  caustic  and  fertile  wit,  were  to 
the  king  a  continual  source  of  amusement.  He  lived  with  his 
favorite  in  almost  brotherly  intimacy,  and  the  administrative 
talents  which  the  chancellor  displayed  in  domestic  affairs 
added  to  his  popularity.  "  I  will  make  thee  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,"  Henry  often  said.  Becket  smiled  and  shook 
his  head.  When  the  prior  of  Leicester,  a  rigid  ecclesiastic, 
reproached  him  with  the  worldliness  and  outward  show  of  his 
mode  of  living,  reminding  him  that  he  was  destined  to  become 
primate  of  England,  the  chancellor  exclaimed,  "  I  know  three 
poor  priests  more  fitted  than  I  for  that  dignity.  If  ever  I 
attained  it,  I  should  either  lose  the  king's  favor,  or  forget 
my  duty  towards  God." 

The  Archbishop  Theobald  was  dead  (1161).  For  thirteen 
months  the  king  left  the  see  vacant,  in  order  to  appropriate 
its  revenues :  but  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  choice  on  which 
he  had  resolved.  Becket  was  devoted  to  him :  he  had  always 
displayed  great  respect  for  the  royal  prerogative,  exacting  so 
rigorously  what  was  due  to  the  crown,  even  from  the  clergy, 
that  the  Bishop  of  London,  Gilbert  Folliot,  accused  him  angrily 
of  plunging  a  dagger  into  the  maternal  bosom  of  his  Church. 
Henry  believed  himself  sure  of  thus  raising  to  the  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  a  friend  who  would  support  him  in  the  reforms 
which  he  was  meditating.  He  sent  for  Thomas  Becket  at 
Toulouse,  where  he  happened  to  be,  and  ordered  him  to  set 
out  immediately  for  England,  where  he  would  be  elected  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury.  Becket  smiled  as  he  pointed  to  the 
magnificent  dress  in  which  he  was  clothed.  "  You  choose 
fine  dresses  to  figure  at  the  head  of  your  monks  at  Canter- 


156  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

bury,"  he  said.  "  If  you  do  as  you  say,  sire,  you  will  hate 
me  very  soon  as  much  as  you  now  love  me  ;  for  you  will 
meddle  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  more  than  I  can  con 
sent  to,  and  people  will  not  be  wanting  to  embroil  us." 

The  king  paid  no  heed  to  the  views  of  the  chancellor.  The 
bishops  and  the  chapter  of  Canterbury  proclaimed  Becket 
unanimously,  with  the  exception  of  Gilbert  Folliot,  who  had 
hoped  to  secure  that  promotion  for  himself.  The  new  arch 
bishop  received  the  order  of  priesthood,  for  he  was  hitherto 
only  a  deacon,  and  he  was  consecrated  by  Henry  of  Win 
chester,  brother  of  King  Stephen.  The  pallium  was  brought 
from  Rome,  and  Becket  took  possession  of  the  archiepiscopal 
throne. 

In  placing  his  hand  upon  the  pastoral  crosier,  Becket  had 
completely  changed  his  way  of  living.  From  the  most  osten 
tatious  luxury  he  suddenly  passed  to  the  austerest  life.  No 
more  festivities  ;  no  more  horses ;  no  more  sumptuous  cloth 
ing.  The  rich  revenues  were  expended  in  alms ;  the  arch 
bishop  had  resigned  his  position  as  chancellor,  saying  that  he 
could  not  do  justice  to  the  affairs  of  the  king  as  well  as 
those  of  the  Church.  Henry  was  astonished  at  this  trans 
formation  ;  but  as  yet  it  caused  him  no  irritation.  When  the 
court  returned  to  England,  the  archbishop  conducted  his  royal 
pupil  to  his  father,  and  the  king  exhibited  towards  him  the 
affection  and  the  confidence  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed. 

Meanwhile  the  storm  was  approaching.  Becket  had  re 
solved  to  restore  to  the  see  of  Canterbury  its  primitive  splen 
dor,  and  to  take  back  from  the  hands  of  the  despoiler  the 
property  of  which  the  chapter  had  been  deprived  by  slow 
degrees.  This  measure,  similar  to  that  which  Henry  had  long 
before  applied  to  the  crown  property,  seemed  to  the  king 
objectionable  when  the  matter  in  hand  was  the  lands  of  the 
archbishopric.  Becket  even  dared  to  demand  a  castle,  and  he 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY    II.  157 

had  excommunicated  a  vassal  holding  directly  from  the  crown 
who  had  expelled  a  priest  from  his  domains.  It  was  with  an 
ill  will,  and  after  much  difficulty,  that  the  archbishop  with 
drew  his  sentence  in  obedience  to  the  king's  orders. 

While  these  clouds  were  gathering  in  the  sky,  Henry  was 
preparing  a  measure  fatal  to  the  good  understanding  between 
himself  and  his  favorite.  The  priests  and  all  those  who  de 
pended,  directly  or  indirectly,  on  the  Church,  had  the  right 
of  being  judged  exclusively  by  ecclesiastical  tribunals ;  and 
clerical  justice  was  accused  of  great  partiality.  Its  very  laws 
forbade  the  shedding  of  blood.  Thus  a  servant  of  the  Church 
could  not  be  condemned  to  death  even  for  murder,  and  this 
assurance  often  led  to  the  most  odious  crimes,  the  repression 
of  which  was  uncertain.  The  king  had  resolved  to  remedy 
this  inconvenience  by  requiring  that  every  priest  degraded 
for  his  misdeeds  should  be  given  up  to  the  civil  tribunals, 
who  should  judge  him  in  their  turn.  Becket  maintained  that 
it  would  be  unjust  to  judge  and  punish  twice  the  same  cul 
prit.  The  greater  number  of  the  bishops  were  of  his  opinion. 
The  king  shifted  the  question.  "  Will  you,"  he  asked  the 
assembly  of  prelates,  "  swear  to  maintain  the  ancient  customs 
of  the  realm  ?  "  "  Save  the  honor  of  our  order,"  replied  all 
the  bishops,  with  the  exception  of  Hilary  of  Chichester.  The 
king  was  furious.  He  convoked  a  great  council  at  Clarendon 
(January  25,  1164),  where  he  presented  to  the  bishops  a  series 
of  decrees  and  laws  regulating  the  relations  of  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  tribunals,  which  have  since  been  known  under 
the  name  of  "  The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon."  He  had 
striven  to  intimidate  the  bishops  by  stripping  Becket  of  the 
castles  and  the  titles  which  he  had  given  to  him  long  before. 
Alternately  threatening  and  yielding,  the  archbishop  had 
arrived  at  Clarendon.  He  had  consented  to  sign  the  Consti 
tutions  ;  the  act  was  complete,  and  it  only  remained  now  to 


158  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

affix  the  seals,  when  Becket  was  seized  with  remorse.  "  I 
will  never  affix  my  seal  to  this,"  he  said,  and  without  listening 
to  the  representations  of  his  colleagues,  or  the  counsels  of  the 
Grand  Master  of  the  Templars,  or  taking  heed  of  the  anger 
of  the  king,  who  had  left  the  hall  of  council  in  a  fit  of  rage, 
he  remounted  his  horse  and  returned  gloomily  to  Canterbury, 
lamenting  over  his  sins  as  the  cause  of  the  enslavement  of 
the  Church  in  England.  "  I  was  taken  from  the  court  to 
become  a  bishop  —  vain  and  proud  as  I  was;  not  from  the 
school  of  the  Saviour,  but  from  the  palace  of  Csesar.  I  was 
a  feeder  of  birds,  and  I  was  suddenly  called  on  to  be  the 
pastor  of  men  ;  I  was  the  patron  of  mummers,  and  took  delight 
in  following  the  hounds,  I  have  become  the  keeper  of  many 
souls.  I  neglected  my  own  vineyard,  and  now  I  am  intrusted 
with  the  vineyard  of  others."  He  fasted  and  prayed,  refusing 
to  ascend  the  steps  of  the  altar ;  and  he  found  no  rest  until 
the  Pope  had  sent  him  absolution  for  his  failings.  The  pontiff 
had  not  ratified  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon. 

The  king  had  not  abandoned  his  project.  His  anger  was 
directed  against  the  archbishop,  whom  he  rightly  regarded  as 
the  only  serious  obstacle  to  his  designs.  He  summoned  him  to 
appear  before  his  council,  which  met  at  Southampton  (October, 
1164),  under  pretext  of  a  denial  of  justice  on  the  part  of  his 
archiepiscopal  court.  Becket  excused  himself,  but  was  con 
demned  to  forfeit  his  personal  property,  a  sentence  which  was 
commuted  into  a  fine  of  five  hundred  pounds  sterling.  The 
charges  against  him  were  not  yet  exhausted.  A  demand  was 
made  for  the  rents  which  he  had  received  from  lands  given  to 
him  by  the  king.  The  archbishop  promised  payment.  Each 
day  brought  some  new  claim.  The  king,  who  was  furious 
against  his  old  favorite,  demanded  at  length  a  sum  of  forty- 
four  thousand  marks  of  silver,  on  account  of  the  ecclesiastical 
revenues  which  Becket  had  appropriated  as  chancellor  during 


CHAP.VII.]  HENRY  II.  159 

the  vacancies  of  the  sees.  This  was  absolute  ruin,  and  war 
to  the  knife.  The  archbishop  replied  that  it  was  not  in  his 
power  to  pay  such  a  sum,  and  that  he  had  been  declared  free 
from  all  such  claims  when  he  had  resigned  his  place  as  chan 
cellor  in  order  to  become  Primate  of  England.  At  the  same 
time  he  requested  a  conference  with  the  bishops  ;  but  all  had 
abandoned  him.  Henry  of  Winchester  alone  proposed  to  pay 
the  sums  demanded  of  the  archbishop.  The  king  would  not 
listen  to  him.  "  What  he  desires  is  your  resignation,"  said 
the  bishops  of  London  and  Winchester  to  Becket.  "  The  life 
of  this  man  is  in  danger,"  exclaimed  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 
"  He  will  lose  his  bishopric  or  his  life  ;  and  I  would  like  to 
know  of  what  use  his  bishopric  will  be  when  he  is  dead." 

Under  the  effects  of  so  many  violent  emotions  the  archbishop 
had  been  taken  ill ;  he  sincerely  believed  himself  to  be  bound 
to  maintain  the  juridical  rights  of  the  Church,  and  in  his  mind 
this  cause  was  absolutely  identified  with  the  cause  of  God. 
To  allow  the  ecclesiastical  privileges  to  be  trammelled  by  the 
royal  authority  appeared  to  him  "  an  act  of  treason  against 
the  Lord  God  who  had  elevated  him,  unworthy  as  he  was,  to 
the  office  of  pastor  of  souls."  Defeated  and  troubled,  he  at 
one  time  thought  of  throwing  himself  at  the  king's  feet,  and 
begging  him  to  spare  the  Church  for  the  sake  of  their  old 
friendship  ;  but  Becket's  was  a  proud  and  ungovernable  spirit, 
and  such  humiliation  appeared  impossible  to  him  ;  he  there 
fore  resolved  to  fight  it  out  to  the  last.  It  was  on  the  18th 
of  October,  1164,  that  he  was  to  appear  before  the  court 
to  receive  his  final  sentence.  Clad  in  his  episcopal  robes, 
he  celebrated  mass  in  honor  of  Saint  Stephen,  the  first 
martyr  ;  then,  laying  aside  his  mitre,  he  advanced,  the  arch 
bishop's  cross  in  his  hand,  and  followed  by  the  priests  into  the 
council-chamber.  As  he  was  entering,  the  Bishop  of  Hereford 
came  to  him,  with  the  intention  of  taking  the  cross  from 


160  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

him.  "  Allow  me  to  keep  it,  my  lord,"  he  said ;  "  it  is  the 
banner  of  the  Prince  whom  I  serve."  The  Bishop  of  London, 
Gilbert  Folliot,  was  there,  and  also  wished  to  take  the  cross 
from  the  hands  of  the  prelate.  "  You  defy  the  king,"  cried 
he,  "  by  coming  in  this  garb  to  his  court ;  but  the  king  holds 
a  sword,  the  point  of  which  is  sharper  than  your  cross." 
The  archbishop  had,  however,  entered  the  council-chamber, 
and  on  seeing  him  Henry  blushed  deeply  and  hastily  retired. 
The  archbishop  sat  down,  but  the  bishops  had  been  called 
away  by  the  king ;  discord  reigned  in  the  royal  chamber. 
Henry  was  furious,  and  railed  bitterly  first  against  the  obsti 
nacy  of  the  archbishop,  and  then  against  the  cowardice  of  his 
own  advisers.  The  Archbishop  of  York  retired,  calling  all  his 
followers,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  avoid  seeing  bloodshed.  The 
Bishop  of  Exeter  went  and  threw  himself  at  Becket's  feet, 
imploring  him  to  yield  and  to  save  his  life.  "  Go,"  said 
the  archbishop  ;  "  you  do  not  understand  those  things  which 
are  of  God."  At  length  the  bishops  returned  with  Hilary  of 
Chichester  at  their  head.  "  You  were  our  primate,"  he  said, 
"  but  in  putting  yourself  in  opposition  to  the  royal  will  you 
have  broken  your  oath  of  allegiance ;  a  perjured  archbishop 
has  no  longer  any  claim  upon  our  obedience ;  we  will  submit 
the  affair  to  the  Pope,  and  call  upon  you  to  answer  before 
him  for  your  conduct."  "  I  understand,"  replied  the  arch 
bishop  coldly. 

The  noblemen  had  followed  the  bishops,  and  the  Earl  of 
Leicester  approached  Becket.  "  Hear  your  sentence,"  he 
began.  "My  sentence!"  cried  Becket.  "My  son,  listen  to 
me  first:  you  know  how  faithfully  I  have  served  the  king, 
and  with  what  repugnance  I  accepted  this  duty  to  please 
him.  You  are  my  children  in  God;  can  a  son  sit  in  judg 
ment  on  his  father?  I  take  exception  to  your  tribunal,  and 
appeal  to  the  Pope.  I  place  myself,  as  well  as  my  Church, 


CHAP.  VIL]  HENRY   II.  161 

under  his  protection,  and  summon  the  bishops  who  have  obeyed 
the  king  rather  than  their  God,  to  answer  at  that  tribunal ; 
it  is  under  the  protection  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  and 
of  the  apostolic  see  that  I  leave  this  court." 

He  had  risen  from  his  seat,  and  all  the  bishops  had  done 
likewise ;  followed  by  his  priests,  he  strode  slowly  across  the 
room ;  the  courtiers  insulted  him  and  threw  at  him  the  bundles 
of  straw  which  covered  the  floor.  Somebody  called  out  "  trai 
tor."  "  Were  it  not  for  the  garments  which  I  wear,  that 
coward  would  repent  his  insolence,"  said  the  archbishop,  who 
then  mounted  his  horse,  while  he  was  saluted  by  the  cries 
of  the  people  who  were  prostrating  themselves  and  asking 
his  benediction.  The  prelate  caused  the  doors  of  the  monas 
tery  in  which  he  resided  to  be  opened,  and  the  poor  entered 
in  crowds,  the  archbishop  giving  them  a  supper,  and  sitting 
down  to  table  with  them  himself. 

The  Scriptures  were  being  read,  and  Becket  was  struck 
by  these  words  of  the  Lord :  "  If  you  are  persecuted  in  one 
town,  fly  to  another."  He  sent  to  the  king  for  a  passport. 
"  You  shall  be  answered  to-morrow,"  was  the  message  sent 
back  from  the  palace.  The  friends  of  Becket  were  in  great 
fear.  "This  night  will  be  your  last  if  you  do  not  fly,"  said 
the  clergy.  The  archbishop  at  length  decided  to  leave  Eng 
land.  Mounted  on  horseback,  and  accompanied  by  three 
priests,  he  set  out  in  the  direction  of  Kent,  amidst  torrents 
of  rain  that  compelled  him  to  cut  off  the  skirts  of  his  long 
mantle,  which  were  wet  and  heavy  and  were  irksome  to  him. 
He  wandered  about  in  the  disguise  of  a  monk,  and  under  the 
name  of  Brother  Christian,  during  twenty  days  in  Kent,  meet 
ing  with  many  adventures.  At  length  he  procured  a  little 
vessel,  and  landed,  on  the  2d  of  November,  1164,  in  the 
countship  of  Boulogne,  near  Gravelines,  whence  he  repaired 

VOL.  I.  21 


162  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

on  foot  and  in  the  same  disguise,  to  the  convent  of  Saint- 
Bertin,  near  Namur. 

The  fugitive's  first  thought  was  to  ask  shelter  of  the  King 
of  France  and  protection  of  Pope  Alexander  II.,  who  was 
then  residing  at  Sens;  the  anti-Pope  Victor  held  possession 
of  Rome.  The  ambassadors  of  Henry  II.  had  preceded  Becket 
at  both  courts ;  but  Louis  the  Young,  an  enemy  to  the  King 
of  England  and  therefore  unwilling  to  do  the  latter  a  service, 
haughtily  declared  that  it  was  the  ancient  privilege  of  the 
French  crown  to  succor  the  oppressed  against  their  persecutors. 
The  Pope  at  first  received  Becket's  representative  rather  coldly ; 
but  he  ended  by  deciding  to  brave  the  anger  of  Henry  II.,  and 
received  the  fallen  archbishop  with  great  kindness.  "  If  I 
had  been  willing  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  king  in  all  things," 
said  Becket,  "nobody  in  his  kingdom  would  now  be  as  great 
as  I;  but  I  know  that  I  obtained  through  him  the  position 
which  I  occupy  to  the  prejudice  of  the  liberty  of  the  Church ; 
that  is  the  reason  that  I  throw  myself  at  your  Holiness's 
feet;  your  Holiness  must  appoint  a  new  Primate  of  England." 
The  Pope  did  not  accept  this  resignation,  and  having  caused 
the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  to  be  read  to  the  prelate,  he 
condemned  them,  with  the  exception  of  six  clauses ;  then 
raising  the  archbishop,  whom  he  had  reinvested  with  his  eccle 
siastical  dignity,  "  Go,"  said  he,  "  and  learn  in  poverty  to 
console  the  poor."  The  Pope  assigned  the  abbey  of  Pontigny 
to  him  as  his  residence,  and  authorized  him  to  excommunicate 
the  enemies  of  the  Church. 

When  Henry  heard  of  the  success  of  his  adversary,  his  anger 
knew  no  bounds  ;  not  only  did  he  confiscate  both  the  goods 
and  revenues  of  Becket  and  the  priests  who  had  followed 
him,  but  he  included  in  his  revenge  all  the  members  of  the 
archbishop's  family  as  well  as  all  his  friends.  He  proscribed 
more  than  four  hundred  persons,  men,  women,  and  children, 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  163 

whom  he  sent,  divested  of  everything,  to  Becket,  to  complain 
of  the  misfortune  which  he  had  brought  upon  them.  Every 
day  these  unhappy  people  would  present  themselves  at  the 
convent  of  Pontigny,  breaking  the  heart  of  the  archbishop, 
who  found  no  rest  until  the  time  when  the  combined  charity 
of  King  Louis,  the  Pope,  and  the  Queen  of  Sicily,  provided 
for  the  necessities  of  the  exiles. 

Meanwhile  King  Henry  had  on  hand  grave  affairs  which 
would  soon  have  made  him  forget  his  grievances  against  the 
archbishop,  if  he  had  been  of  a  less  vindictive  disposition. 
The  Welsh  had  revolted,  and  the  war  against  them  had  been 
unfortunate  in  consequence  of  bad  weather ;  the  king  had 
consoled  himself  for  this  by  causing  the  noses  of  the  hostages 
to  be  cut  off  and  their  eyes  destroyed ;  but  this  was  not 
sufficient  to  appease  his  anger.  He  found  satisfaction  in  Brit 
tany,  where  he  profited  by  the  rebellion  against  Conan.  Henry 
took  advantage  of  it  to  seize  upon  the  country.  He  celebrated, 
in  1166,  the  marriage  of  his  son  Geoffrey  with  Constance. 
Brittany  was  pacified,  but  Becket  had  just  excommunicated 
all  those  who  held  the  property  of  the  Church,  and  particularly 
several  of  the  king's  favorites,  whom  he  mentioned  by  name. 

When  Henry  heard  this  news,  he  was  at  Chinon,  near 
Tours.  His  anger  was  so  violent  that  he  threw  himself  upon 
his  bed,  tearing  the  clothes,  biting  the  straw  of  the  mattress, 
and  howling  with  rage.  He  immediately  informed  the  Abbot 
of  Pontigny  that  if  the  order  of  Cistercians  wished  to  retain 
their  property  in  the  provinces  dependent  on  the  King  of 
England,  he  must  refuse  the  shelter  of  his  house  to  the  enemy 
who  so  haughtily  defied  his  sovereign.  The  abbot  went  and 
saw  Becket.  "  God  forbid  that  upon  such  injunctions  the 
chapter  should  think  of  sending  you  away,"  he  said;  "con 
sider  for  yourself  what  you  had  better  do."  The  archbishop 
immediately  made  preparation  to  leave  the  place,  and  went 


164  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

to  the  convent  of  Saint  Colomba  near  Sens,  where  King  Louis 
had  ordered  that  he  should  be  received  (1168). 

Up  to  this  period  political  considerations  had  created  an  ill- 
feeling  between  the  King  of  France  and  the  King  of  England, 
and  in  this  lay  Becket's  security ;  in  1169  similar  influences 
brought  them  to  an  understanding.  They  met  at  a  solemn 
conference  at  Montmirail,  and  when  the  young  princes,  Henry's 
sons,  had  done  homage  to  the  King  of  France  for  Normandy, 
Aquitaine,  and  Brittany,  the  case  of  Becket  was  considered, 
and  he  was  ordered  to  appear  before  the  august  assembly. 
The  archbishop  was  growing  weary  of  his  exile,  and  his  pro 
tectors  were  growing  weary  of  defending  him.  It  was  therefore 
hoped  that  he  would  tender  his  submission,  in  order  to  end 
the  struggle.  Becket  presented  himself  before  King  Henry 
with  a  grave  and  modest  air  :  bending  his  knee,  the  archbishop 
said,  "  My  liege,  in  all  the  disputes  which  have  taken  place 
between  us,  I  submit  to  your  judgment,  as  arbitrary  sovereign 
in  all  points,  except  the  honor  of  God."  Immediately  this 
restriction  was  uttered,  the  king  burst  into  a  passion,  and 
turning  towards  King  Louis,  "  Do  you  know,"  he  cried,  "  what 
would  happen  if  I  were  to  accept  this  reservation  ?  Every 
thing  that  should  displease  him  would  be  contrary  to  the 
honor  of  God,  and  I  should  lose  all  power.  There  have  been 
archbishops  at  Canterbury  much  more  pious  than  he,  and 
there  have  been  kings  in  England  less  powerful  than  I ;  let 
him  only  treat  me  as  the  most  pious  of  his  predecessors  treated 
the  smallest  of  mine,  and  I  shall  be  satisfied."  "  Save  the 
honor  of  God,"  repeated  the  archbishop.  The  assembly  cried 
out  aloud  that  it  was  past  endurance,  that  the  king  could 
ask  no  less,  and  that  Becket  was  too  exacting.  "  Do  you 
wish  then  to  be  more  than  a  saint  ? "  asked  Louis  angrily, 
but  he  got  no  further  concession ;  and  the  two  kings  re 
mounted  their  horses  without  taking  leave  of  the  archbishop, 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  165 

whose  fate  was  now  very  much  harder  by  reason  of  the 
estrangement  of  the  King  of  France.  He  was  reduced  to 
live  by  alms  until  the  day  when  Louis  again  sent  for  him. 
"It  is  to  banish  us  from  his  dominions,"  the  clergy  said  in 
alarm ;  but  scarcely  had  the  king  seen  the  archbishop  when 
he  threw  himself  into  his  arms.  "  Forgive  me,  father,"  he  cried  ; 
"  you  are  right,  we  were  mistaken ;  we  wished  to  subject  the 
honor  of  God  to  the  will  of  a  man.  Absolve  me."  Henry  had 
failed  to  fulfil  his  contracts  with  King  Louis,  who  had  there 
upon  hastened  to  express  his  approval  of  Becket's  conduct. 

A  fresh  attempt  at  a  reconciliation  broke  down  in  consequence 
of  the  king's  firm  decision  never  to  give  to  the  archbishop 
the  kiss  of  peace,  with  which  it  was  usual  to  ratify  all  oaths. 
Meanwhile  Prince  Henry  had  been  crowned  in  England,  his 
father  wishing  to  secure  the  succession  to  him.  Becket's  office 
had  been  usurped,  the  young  prince  having  received  the 
crown  from  the  hands  of  the  Archbishop  of  York.  The  Pope 
had  returned  to  Rome,  after  the  death  of  the  anti-Pope 
Victor,  and  the  displeasure  or  favor  of  the  King  of  England 
now  had  fewer  attractions  or  horrors  for  him.  Henry  was 
afraid  that  he  might  authorize  Becket  to  excommunicate  him 
personally,  and  to  place  his  kingdom  under  an  interdict,  and 
he  at  length  yielded,  under  the  advice  of  the  King  of  France, 
with  whom  he  had  just  effected  a  reconciliation.  In  the 
month  of  July,  1170,  the  two  antagonists  met  within  the 
confines  of  Touraine.  As  soon  as  the  king  perceived  the 
archbishop,  he  came  forward,  helmet  in  hand,  and  accosted 
him.  They  conversed  in  a  friendly  manner,  with  a  certain 
amount  of  their  old  familiarity,  and  when  they  parted  from 
each  other,  the  king  said  to  his  courtiers,  "I  found  the 
archbishop  most  favorably  disposed  towards  me,  and  if  the 
feeling  were  not  mutual  I  should  be  the  worst  of  men." 
Within  two  days  of  this  event  the  reconciliation  took  place. 


166  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

Becket  bent  his  knee  to  the  king,  who  held  the  stirrup  for 
the  archbishop  to  remount  his  horse ;  but  the  kiss  of  peace 
was  not  given.  However,  the  restitution  of  the  archbishop's 
property  was  agreed  upon.  Henry  promised  to  supply  Becket 
with  the  money  requisite  to  defray  his  travelling  expenses 
to  England,  and  the  two  enemies,  apparently  reconciled,  took 
leave  of  each  other.  "  I  do  not  believe  that  I  shall  ever 
see  you  again,"  said  the  archbishop,  looking  fixedly  at  the 
king.  "  What !  Do  you  take  me  for  a  traitor  ?"  cried  Henry 
angrily.  The  prelate  only  bowed  in  answer.  He  never  saw 
the  king  again. 

The  archbishop  had  proceeded  to  Rouen,  awaiting  the  money 
which  had  been  promised  to  him ;  and  during  the  sojourn 
which  he  was  compelled  to  make  in  Normandy  he  received 
frequent  warnings  of  the  dangers  which  awaited  him  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Channel.  "  They  will  not  even  allow 
Becket  time  enough  to  eat  a  whole  loaf,"  said  Ranulph  de 
Broc,  who  had  been  excommunicated  by  him ;  but  Becket 
did  not  take  heed  of  any  warnings.  "  Even,"  he  said,  "if 
I  had  to  face  the  certainty  of  being  cut  to  pieces  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Channel,  I  should  not  turn  back  on  my 
way.  Seven  years  of  absence  are  sufficient  for  the  pastor 
and  for  his  flock." 

After  having  waited  for  four  months,  he  borrowed  three 
hundred  livres  of  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  and  set  sail  in 
a  small  vessel  which  landed  him  in  Sandwich  Bay,  whereby 
he  avoided  an  ambush  which  had  been  prepared  for  him  near 
Dover.  A  messenger  preceded  the  prelate,  bearing  letters  of 
excommunication  from  the  Pope  against  the  Archbishop  of 
York,  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  the  Bishop  of  Chichester, 
who  had  all  taken  part  in  the  ceremony  of  the  coronation 
of  the  young  king.  The  letters  were  publicly  delivered  to 
the  three  bishops,  who  were  enraged  beyond  measure.  It 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  167 

was  on  the  1st  of  December  that  Becket  returned  to  Eng 
land,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  people,  but  not  a  single 
baron  came  to  meet  him.  The  first  who  passed  were  armed 
and  drew  their  swords;  one  of  the  king's  chaplains,  who 
had  accompanied  the  primate,  was  at  great  pains  to  quiet 
them,  and  to  protect  Becket  on  his  re-entering  his  episcopal 
city.  "  He  gathers  serfs  round  him  on  his  way,"  said  the 
noblemen,  "  and  leads  them  with  him."  The  archbishop  had 
come  back  to  Canterbury,  after  having  attempted  to  obtain 
an  interview  with  the  young  king,  his  old  pupil,  but  the 
latter  had  refused  to  see  him ;  and  Becket,  confined  to  his 
diocese,  surrounded  himself  with  the  poor  and  the  peasants, 
who  constituted  a  rustic  guard  round  him.  Excommunica 
tions  were  still  being  proclaimed  ;  on  Christmas-day,  after 
having  begun  his  sermon  with  these  words,  "  Venio  ad  vos, 
mori  inter  vos"  (I  come  to  you  to  die  among  you),  Becket, 
reminding  his  congregation  that  one  of  their  archbishops  had 
suffered  martyrdom,  added,  "  You  will  perhaps  see  another 
suffer  in  the  same  manner ;  but,  before  dying,  I  will  avenge 
some  of  the  wrongs  done  to  the  Church."  He  then  excom 
municated  Ranulph  and  Robert  de  Broc,  his  bitter  enemies. 
Meanwhile  the  suspended  bishops  had  crossed  the  sea,  to 
go  and  lay  their  complaints  before  King  Henry  II.,  who  was 
still  in  Normandy.  "  We  throw  ourselves  at  your  mercy,  in 
the  name  of  the  Church  and  State,  for  your  peace  and  for 
ours.  There  is  a  man  who  is  inflaming  all  England ;  he 
marches  with  troops  of  armed  horsemen  and  foot-soldiers, 
prowling  around  the  fortresses,  trying  to  effect  an  entrance." 
Henry  had  never  sincerely  forgiven  his  old  favorite,  and  he 
was  very  angry  at  these  accounts  of  his  conduct.  "  What !  " 
cried  he,  "  does  this  wretch,  who  has  eaten  my  bread,  who 
came  to  my  court  a  beggar,  upon  a  lame  horse,  with  all  he 
possessed  behind  him,  insult  me  with  impunity,  while  not  one 


168  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

of  the  cowards  whom  I  feed  at  my  table  dares  to  deliver  me 
from  a  priest  who  is  so  obnoxious  to  me." 

Words  like  these  are  always  caught  up  by  willing  ears. 
When  the  king  convoked  a  council  of  his  barons  to  decide 
what  was  to  be  done  with  Becket,  four  of  their  number 
were  absent  —  Richard  Brito,  Hugh  de  Moreville,  William  de 
Tracy,  and  Reginald  Fitzurse.  When  the  king  observed  that 
they  were  not  there,  he  became  uneasy,  and  hastened  the 
departure  of  the  Earl  of  Mandeville,  who  was  commissioned 
to  arrest  Becket.  The  four  conspirators  preceded  him. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  in  the  morning,  they  arrived  at 
Canterbury,  followed  by  a  troop  of  soldiers  whom  they  had 
collected  together  on  their  way.  They  wished  to  secure  the 
help  of  the  mayor  of  the  town,  but  the  latter  refused.  The 
knights  recommended  him  at  least  to  keep  the  townsmen 
quiet,  and  they  proceeded  to  the  prelate's  house  with  twelve 
of  their  friends. 

The  archbishop  was  in  his  room,  and  the  knights  sat  down 
on  the  floor,  without  saluting  him  and  in  silence.  No  one 
dared  begin.  The  archbishop  asked  their  business.  "  We 
have  come  on  behalf  of  the  king,"  said  Reginald  Fitzurse, 
"in  order  that  those  you  have  excommunicated  may  be  ab 
solved,  that  the  bishops  who  have  been  suspended  may  be 
re-established  in  their  positions,  and  that  you  may  justify 
your  designs  against  the  king."  "It  is  not  I  who  excommu 
nicated  the  Archbishop  of  York,"  said  Becket,  "but  the 
Pope  himself.  As  to  the  others,  I  will  re-establish  them  if 
they  will  tender  their  submission."  "  From  whom  do  you 
hold  your  appointment  as  archbishop  ? "  inquired  Fitzurse, 
"  from  the  Pope  or  from  the  king  ?  "  "  My  spiritual  office 
I  hold  by  the  will  of  God  and  the  Pope,"  said  the  primate, 
"  and  my  temporal  rights  from  the  king."  "  It  is  not  from 
the  king,  then,  that  you  obtain  everything?"  "No."  The 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY    II.  169 

knights  were  restless,  and  were  twisting  their  gloves  angrily. 
"  I  am  astonished,"  said  Becket,  "  that  men  who  formerly 
swore  allegiance  to  me  come  into  my  house  to  threaten  me." 
44  We  will  do  more  than  threaten,"  cried  the  barons.  They 
thereupon  retired  hastily. 

The  priests  and  attendants  who  surrounded  Becket  were 
alarmed ;  they  wanted  to  close  all  the  doors  and  barricade 
the  house,  begging  the  bishop  to  take  refuge  in  the  church. 
He  refused.  Already  the  noise  of  battle-axes  crashing  against 
the  entrance  was  heard.  Fitzurse  was  endeavoring  to  break 
open  the  door,  which  an  attendant  had  shut  upon  the  intrud 
ers,  who  had  now  come  back  with  their  weapons.  The  bell 
of  the  church  was  ringing  for  vespers.  "  Since  it  is  my 
duty,  I  will  go  to  the  church,"  said  Becket,  and,  preceded 
by  a  priest  carrying  a  cross,  he  passed  slowly  through  the 
cloisters  and  entered  the  cathedral.  The  door  had  not  given 
way,  but  the  conspirators  had  just  entered  the  palace  by 
the  window.  The  clergy  were  hastening  to  close  the  doors 
of  the  church.  "  No,"  said  the  archbishop  ;  "  the  house  of 
God  should  not  be  barricaded  like  a  fortress."  He  was 
ascending  the  steps  leading  to  the  choir,  when  Reginald  Fitz 
urse  entered  abruptly  at  the  other  end  of  the  church.  He 
was  brandishing  his  sword  and  crying,  "  Come,  loyal  subjects 
of  the  king."  It  was  late ;  the  movements  of  the  conspira 
tors  were  scarcely  observable,  neither  could  the  latter  see 
the  priests  distinctly.  The  archbishop  was  urged  to  descend 
into  the  crypt.  He  refused,  and  advanced  boldly  towards 
the  sacrilegious  intruders,  who  were  brandishing  their  swords 
within  the  holy  precincts.  His  cross-bearer  alone  had  not 
fled.  t4  Where  is  the  traitor?"  cried  a  voice.  Becket  did 
not  answer.  t4  Where  is  the  archbishop  ?  "  repeated  Fitzurse. 
44 1  am  here,"  said  Becket,  44  but  no  traitor,  only  a  priest 
of  the  Lord.  What  are  you  here  for  ? "  44  Absolve  all 

VOL.  I.  22 


170  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

those  whom  you  have  excommunicated."  "They  have  not 
repented,  and  therefore  I  cannot."  "  You  shall  die  then." 
"  I  am  ready,  in  the  name  of  the  Saviour ;  but  I  forbid 
you,  by  the  Lord  Almighty,  to  touch  any  of  these  present, 
either  priests  or  laymen."  At  this  moment  he  received  be 
tween  the  shoulders  a  blow  with  the  flat  part  of  a  sword. 
"  Fly,"  they  cried,  "  or  you  are  a  dead  man."  The  arch 
bishop  did  not  stir;  the  intruders  endeavored  to  drag  him 
out,  not  daring  to  kill  him  in  the  sanctuary;  he  was  strug 
gling  in  their  grasp.  At  length  William  de  Tracy  raised 
his  sword  and  wounded  the  archbishop  in  the  head,  striking 
down  at  the  same  time  the  hand  of  Edward  Gryme,  the 
brave  cross-bearer.  Becket  had  clasped  his  hands  together. 
" 1  confide  my  soul  and  the  cause  of  the  Church  to  God, 
to  the  Virgin  Mary,  to  the  patron  saints  of  this  church,  and 
to  St.  Denis,"  he  cried.  A  second  thrust  from  a  sword  laid 
him  prostrate  upon  the  ground  near  St.  Bonnet's  altar  ;  a 
third  blow  split  his  skull,  and  the  sword  was  broken  on  the 
paved  floor.  "  Thus  perish  all  traitors,"  cried  one  of  the 
conspirators,  and  they  left  the  church  hurriedly,  while  the 
monks  were  tearfully  laying  the  archbishop's  body  out  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar,  taking  up  his  blood  in  vessels,  leaving  ex 
posed  to  view  the  hair-cloth  which  he  wore,  and  already 
revering  him  as  a  martyr.  But  on  the  morrow  they  were 
obliged  to  bury  him  in  great  haste  in  order  to  spare  his  dead 
body  the  indignity  of  being  insulted  by  Ranulph  de  Broc, 
who  desired  to  take  it  away.  The  Archbishop  of  York  pub 
licly  declared  that  Becket  had  fallen  in  his  guilt  and  his 
pride  like  Pharaoh,  while  other  bishops  maintained  that  the 
body  of  the  traitor  ought  not  to  lie  in  consecrated  ground, 
and  that  he  should  be  thrown  into  the  foulest  ditch,  or  be 
put  upon  a  gibbet  to  rot.  It  was  forbidden  in  the  churches 
to  speak  of  him  as  a  martyr. 


WVlh-'l 


MURDER  OF  THOMAS  A  BECKET. 


CHAP.  VII]  HENRY  II.  171 

Decrees  are  incapable  of  influencing  the  development  of 
public  opinion ;  King  Henry  was  the  first  to  discover  this. 
Scarcely  had  he  heard  the  news,  when  a  profound  feeling 
of  repentance  for  his  imprudent  words  overcame  him ;  he 
shut  himself  up  in  his  private  apartment,  and  during  three 
days  would  not  see  anybody  or  take  any  food.  When  he 
awoke  from  this  sullen  depression,  he  immediately  sent  an 
ambassador  to  the  Pope,  assuring  the  latter  of  his  innocence 
and  of  the  grief  which  the  death  of  the  archbishop  caused 
him.  At  the  same  time  he  hesitated  to  punish  the  murder- 
ersv  who  had  acted  according  to  his  suggestion,  and  he 
allowed  them  the  benefit  of  clergy,  the  crime  having  been 
committed  upon  the  person  of  a  priest.  Thus  the  liberties 
of  the  Church,  for  which  Becket  had  just  died,  protected 
his  assassins.  It  is  related  that  the  latter  were  stricken  with 
remorse  in  their  turn,  and  that  they  went  and  threw  them 
selves  at  the  feet  of  the  Pope,  at  Rome,  who  ordered  them 
to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  where  they  died 
sincerely  penitent. 

If  the  story  of  the  repentance  of  the  murderers  is  not  well 
authenticated,  that  of  Becket's  posthumous  triumph  is  incon 
testable.  He  had  not  been  buried  two  years,  and  King 
Henry  had  scarcely  obtained  forgiveness  of  the  Pope  (1172) 
by  undertaking  to  support,  during  three  years,  two  hundred 
horsemen  intended  for  the  defence  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
when  pilgrims  were  already  proceeding  in  crowds  to  Canter 
bury  Cathedral,  begging  the  protection  of  the  martyr,  canon 
ized  by  the  public  voice  before  being  recognized  as  a  saint 
by  the  Church.  Two  more  years  elapsed,  and  on  the  10th 
of  July,  1174,  the  king  was  proceeding  barefooted  along  the 
road  leading  to  Canterbury.  Each  step  he  made  left  behind 
him  a  spot  of  blood  ;  he  wore  a  pilgrim's  dress,  and  on  his 
arrival  descended  into  the  crypt,  and  prostrated  himself  before 


172  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

the  tomb.  The  Bishop  of  London,  from  the  pulpit,  assured 
the  people  of  the  innocence  of  the  king,  of  the  profound 
grief  which  the  death  of  the  archbishop  had  caused  him,  and 
of  the  remorse  which  he  experienced  for  the  fit  of  anger 
which  had  caused  the  commission  of  the  crime ;  the  king 
remained  praying.  He  rose,  uncovered  his  shoulders,  and, 
passing  before  the  chapter,  he  received  from  each  monk  three 
strokes  from  a  knotted  rope ;  Henry  then  returned  to  the  tomb, 
still  fasting  and  praying.  He  passed  the  night  in  the  church, 
and  the  morning  after,  having  attended  holy  mass,  he  returned 
to  London  so  exhausted  by  the  fatigue  and  severity  of  his 
punishment  that  he  fell  ill  on  his  arrival. 

During  the  anxieties  which  Henry  experienced  while  he  was 
quarrelling  with  Becket,  he  had  not  neglected  external  affairs, 
and  a  new  kingdom  had  been  added  to  his  vast  dominions, 
a  kingdom  insecurely  held,  however,  as  yet,  and  which  was 
to  cost  England  much  blood  and  many  errors  before  being 
united  completely  to  his  crown.  Henry  II.  had  made  the 
conquest  of  Ireland. 

After  having  shone  with  some  brilliancy  in  letters  as  well 
as  in  the  history  of  religious  faith,  Ireland  had  for  some  time 
past  fallen  back  into  a  state  verging  on  barbarism.  Originally 
inhabited  by  different  colonies  of  the  Celtic  race,  she  retained 
institutions  analogous  to  those  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 
The  clans  were  called  septs,  the  chief  was  known  as  a  "  Car- 
finny,"  and  chose  his  successor,  or  "  Tanist,"  from  his  own 
family,  without  regard  to  the  laws  of  primogeniture  ;  when 
the  "  Carfmny  "  died,  the  "Tanist"  succeeded  him,  and  named 
his  own  heir-presumptive.  The  same  rule  existed  in  the  four 
kingdoms  of  Ulster,  Munster,  Leinster,  and  Connaught.  En 
mity  and  rivalry  were  constant  between  these  princes ;  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  kings  who  ruled  over  Ireland, 
seventy-one  were  killed  in  war  and  sixty  were  murdered.  In 


CHAP.  VIL]  HENRY    II.  173 

1169  the  King  of  Leinster,  Dermod  MacMorogh,  having  been 
driven  from  his  possessions,  had  applied  to  Henry  II.  for 
assistance,  offering  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Eng 
lish  king.  But  the  king  was  engrossed  in  his  relations  with 
France,  and  he  contented  himself  with  authorizing  English 
warriors  to  support  the  cause  of  Dermod  if  they  chose.  Hav 
ing  obtained  this  permission,  a  certain  number  of  adventurers 
went  over  to  Ireland ;  the  most  notable  of  whom  was  the 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  Richard  de  Clare,  called  Strong- 
bow,  who  took  with  him  a  force  of  three  thousand  men. 
He  fought  against  Dermod's  enemies,  married  that  chiefs 
daughter,  and  had  just  inherited  the  kingdom  of  his  father- 
in-law,  when  the  king,  annoyed  at  his  success,  wrote  for  him, 
recalling  him  to  England.  Strongbow  immediately  crossed 
the  sea,  and  came  and  threw  himself  at  the  king's  feet, 
offering  to  surrender  the  town  of  Dublin  to  him.  Henry's 
anger  was  appeased,  and  he  appointed  Strongbow  to  the 
position  of  seneschal  of  Ireland.  In  the  following  year  the 
king  himself  landed  in  his  new  dominions  with  an  army  so 
numerous  that  the  Irish  soon  made  a  nominal  submission. 
Henry,  however,  intended  not  to  act  as  a  conqueror ;  he  was 
taking  possession,  he  said,  of  Ireland  by  virtue  of  an  old 
bull  of  Pope  Adrian,  which  conferred  upon  him  the  sover 
eignty  of  this  new  kingdom  by  the  right  which  the  Popes 
claimed  to  exercise  over  all  the  islands  recognizing  the  Chris 
tian  faith.  The  Irish  bishops  answered  this  appeal  by  meeting 
together  in  council.  Several  wise  measures  were  adopted  for 
the  civilization  of  the  savage  regions,  where  polygamy  was 
still  practised,  and  where  dead  bodies  were  not  always  buried. 
But  Henry  did  not  atternpt  to  impose  the  English  laws  upon 
his  new  subjects.  That  portion  of  Ireland  occupied  by  the 
Normans  was  alone  assimilated  to  England ;  the  rest  of  the 
country  remained  subject  to  its  old  customs.  When  Henry 


174  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

returned  from  thence  on  the  17th  of  April,  1173,  nominating 
Hugh  de  Lacy  governor  of  Ireland,  he  left  behind  him  terri 
tories  which  his  armies  had  not  overrun,  and  an  undisciplined 
population,  who  took  advantage  of  his  absence  to  rebel.  The 
jealousies  of  the  English  noblemen  established  in  Ireland  still 
further  complicated  the  difficulties  of  the  government.  Har 
assed  by  their  mutual  recriminations,  the  king  would  depose, 
replace,  or  recall  the  rivals ;  disorder  reigned  in  all  parts, 
when,  in  1185,  the  king,  having  obtained  from  the  Pope  the 
investiture  of  Ireland  for  his  son  John,  sent  the  young  prince 
there  with  his  court.  The  arrogance,  the  severity,  and  the 
follies  of  the  new  sovereign  soon  caused  fresh  insurrections. 
John  grew  alarmed  and  returned  precipitately  to  England, 
leaving  to  Sir  John  de  Courcy  the  care  of  pacifying  Ireland ; 
the  lieutenant  succeeded  in  this,  and,  having  become  Earl  of 
Ulster,  he  governed  the  new  kingdom  with  as  much  firmness 
as  good  sense,  until,  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  a 
prosperous  state  of  affairs  was  inaugurated,  to  which  Ireland 
had  not  been  accustomed  under  native  kings. 

Henry  had  begun  to  appropriate  Ireland  to  himself,  but 
without  being  able  to  give  his  personal  attention  to  that 
country.  He  was  a  prey  to  bitter  and  ever  increasing  embar 
rassments.  The  crowning  of  his  son,  Prince  Henry,  had 
excited  in  the  young  man  an  ambitious  spirit  which  his 
father-in-law,  Louis  VII.,  constantly  encouraged.  He  asked 
for  the  immediate  cession  of  Normandy,  or  even  of  England, 
in  order  to  be  able,  he  said,  to  maintain  his  position  and 
that  of  the  queen  his  wife.  "  Wait  until  my  death,"  replied 
the  king ;  "  you  shall  have  wealth  and  power  enough."  He 
intended  to  bequeath  England  to  Henry  as  well  as  Normandy, 
Anjou,  and  Maine.  Aquitaine  he  designed  for  Richard,  Brit 
tany  for  Geoffrey,  and  Ireland  for  John.  The  young  princes 
had  even  already  been  invested  with  these  magnificent  prov- 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY   II.  175 

inces ;  but,  encouraged  by  their  mother,  the  vindictive  Elea 
nor,  to  whom  Henry  II.  had  always  been  a  good  husband, 
they  plotted  to  seize  their  inheritance  beforehand.  In  March, 
1173,  Prince  Henry,  who  had  slept  with  his  father  at  Chinon, 
found  a  means  of  escaping  during  the  night,  and  of  reaching 
the  territory  of  the  King  of  France.  A  few  days  afterwards, 
his  two  brothers,  Richard  and  Geoffrey,  also  escaped,  and 
Queen  Eleanor  prepared  to  follow  her  sons;  but  she  was 
captured  by  her  husband's  emissaries  and  brought  back  to 
England,  where  she  was  imprisoned  until  King  Henry's 
death. 

The  father  had  sent  to  Paris  to  ask  that  his  son  should 
be  given  up  to  him  ;  the  ambassadors  found  the  young  prince 
clad  in  regal  robes,  seated  by  the  side  of  Louis  VII.  "  We 
come  from  Henry,  King  of  the  English,  Duke  of  Normandy 
and  of  Aquitaine,  Count  of  Anjou  and  of  Maine,"  began  the 
messengers.  "No,"  said  the  king,  interrupting  them;  "King 
Henry  is  sitting  here,  and  he  has  commissioned  you  to  deliver 
no  message.  If  you  wish  to  speak  of  the  king,  his  father, 
he  is  dead  since  his  son  wears  the  crown.  If  he  still  has 
any  pretensions  to  the  title  of  king,  I  will  soon  cure  him  of 
them."  In  accordance  with  these  haughty  words,  the  young 
prince  caused  a  seal  similar  to  that  of  England  to  be  made, 
and  declared,  by  letters  addressed  to  the  Pope,  to  his  broth 
ers,  and  to  all  the  great  noblemen  of  England  and  of  the 
French  states,  that  he  was  at  war  with  his  father  in  order 
to  avenge  the  death  of  Becket,  "  my  foster-father,  whose  as 
sassins  are  still  safe  and  sound.  I  am  unable  (he  added)  to 
bear  this  criminal  negligence,  for  the  blood  of  the  martyr 
cries  aloud  in  my  ears.  My  father  is  incensed  against  me ; 
but  I  do  not  fear  to  offend  him  when  the  honor  of  God  is 
the  cause."  The  kings  of  France  and  Scotland,  the  Count 
of  Flanders,  and  a  great  number  of  English  and  Norman 


176  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

noblemen,  sided  with  the  conspirators ;   King  Henry  began  to 
see  himself  abandoned  by  his  most  intimate  friends. 

He  was  a  match  for  his  'four  sons.  "  The  King  of  England 
neither  rides  nor  sails,"  said  King  Louis,  alarmed  by  the 
rapidity  of  his  rival's  movements :  "  he  is  believed  to  be  in 
England,  and  he  is  in  France  ;  he  is  believed  to  be  in  Ire 
land,  and  he  is  in  England."  An  army  of  Brabantines  had 
been  raised,  and  King  Henry  II.  had  called  upon  all  those 
monarchs  who  had  sons,  to  support  him  in  his  quarrel;  en 
deavoring  to  secure  their  help  by  the  consideration  of  the 
disorder  which  would  reign  in  their  own  dominions  if  their 
own  children  followed  the  example  set  by  the  English  princes. 
He  had  implored  the  Pope  to  help  him  to  defend  the  patri 
mony  of  St.  Peter,  as  he  called  the  islands  of  England  and 
Ireland ;  the  pontiff  replied  by  sending  legates  to  put  an 
end  to  this  unnatural  struggle  ;  but  blood  had  already  been 
shed.  In  the  month  of  June,  1173,  the  Count  of  Flanders 
had  entered  into  Normandy ;  but  his  brother,  who  was  his 
heir,  having  been  killed  at  the  first  siege,  he  retired  from 
this  impious  struggle  and  re-entered  his  states.  King  Louis 
VII.  and  Prince  Henry  were  defeated  by  the  Brabantines ; 
Prince  Geoffrey  did  not  meet  with  success  in  Brittany ;  a 
conference  convoked  at  Gisors  again  excited  their  animosity. 
The  war  was  carried  on  with  alternate  successes  and  reverses ; 
the  insurrection  had  spread  as  far  as  Aquitaine  ;  the  Scots 
had  crossed  the  frontier,  and  several  towns  of  England  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents,  when,  in  the  month  of  July, 
1174,  Henry  hastily  left  Normandy.  On  reaching  England 
he  proceeded  directly  to  Becket's  tomb.  It  was  on  the  mor 
row  of  his  humiliation  and  repentance,  when  he  was  already 
in  his  bed,  overcome  by  fever,  that  it  was  announced  to  him 
that  an  attendant  of  Ranulph  de  Glanville  wished  to  speak 
with  him.  The  king  inquired  whether  Ranulph,  who  waa 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY   II.  177 

one  of  his  intimate  friends,  was  well.  "  My  lord  is  well," 
replied  the  messenger,  "and  your  enemy,  the  King  of  Scot 
land,  is  in  your  hands."  The  king  trembled.  "  Say  that 
again,"  he  said.  The  man  tendered  some  letters  to  the  king  ; 
it  appeared  that  on  the  12th  of  July  Glanville  had  surprised 
the  King  of  Scotland,  William  the  Lion,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Alnwick,  and  had  made  a  prisoner  of  him.  This  good 
news  effected  a  cure  of  the  king's  disorder;  the  people  again 
thronged  round  his  standards.  In  a  few  days  the  insurrection 
was  quelled  in  all  parts,  and  Henry,  after  this  triumph,  re- 
crossed  the  sea  with  his  army,  to  relieve  Rouen,  which  was 
besieged  by  the  King  of  France,  Prince  Henry,  and  the 
Count  of  Flanders.  A  battle  took  place  under  the  walls  of 
the  town,  which  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  King  of  Eng 
land  ;  the  princes  were  for  the  time  reduced  to  obedience. 
Richard  resisted  for  a  greater  length  of  time  than  his  broth 
ers  ;  he  had  acquired  a  taste  for  warlike  achievements,  which 
were  to  become  the  passion  of  his  life,  and  he  thought,  besides, 
that  he  was  upholding  the  rights  of  his  mother,  to  whom 
he  was  tenderly  attached.  But  he  yielded  at  length.  An 
interval  of  peace  at  length  allowed  Henry  II.  breathing-time 
and  leisure  to  organize  the  great  institution  which  he  wished 
to  bequeath  to  England.  It  was  in  1176  that  he  definitively 
established,  with  the  help  of  his  friend  Ranulph  de  Glanville, 
the  courts  of  justice,  where  the  assizes  were  regularly  held  for 
all  the  civil  and  criminal  business,  and  which  were  presided 
over  by  itinerant  judges,  who  made  a  circuit  from  town  to 
town  to  direct  the  decisions  of  the  knights  of  the  shire,  who 
then  represented  the  jury. 

Louis  VII.  was  dead.  Philip  Augustus  had  ascended  the 
throne  (1180),  and  war  was  about  to  break  out  afresh.  King 
Henry,  who  was  now  reconciled  to  his  eldest  son,  wished 
to  compel  Richard  to  do  homage  to  his  brother  for  the  duchy 

VOL.  I.  23 


178  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

of  Aquitaine  ;  the  prince  refused,  saying  that  he  would  not 
compromise  the  rights  of  his  mother.  She  was  greatly  beloved 
in  her  hereditary  dominions,  and  the  poet  Bertrand  de  Born, 
powerful  among  his  countrymen,  and  devoted  to  Eleanor's 
cause,  was  intriguing  successively  with  whichever  of  the  three 
sons  appeared  the  most  incensed  against  his  father.  King 
Henry  had  caused  a  picture  to  be  painted  representing  four 
young  eagles  attacking  their  sire.  "  If  John  does  not 
join  his  brothers,"  he  said  sadly,  "it  is  because  he  is  too 
young." 

Richard  at  length  made  peace  with  his  father,  but  Henry 
and  Geoffrey  had  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion  in  their 
turn.  They  had  invited  the  king  to  a  conference  at  Limoges 
(1183)  ;  when  he  approached  the  town  he  was  saluted  with 
a  volley  of  arrows,  of  which  one  wounded  his  horse  in  the 
neck.  "  Ah,  Geoffrey  !  "  cried  the  king,  "  what  has  your  un 
happy  father  done  to  you  that  you  should  thus  make  a  target 
of  him  for  your  arrows  ?  "  The  prince  laughed  at  this  bitter 
remonstrance.  "  We  cannot  live  in  peace  among  ourselves," 
he  said,  "  without  being  in  league  against  my  father."  His 
brother  Henry  was  disgusted  at  this  evidence  of  his  brother's 
hard-heartedness,  and  joined  the  king  for  a  while ;  but  soon 
after,  having  been  again  annoyed,  he  departed  and  joined 
Geoffrey  and  the  Poitevins,  who  had  revolted,  when  he  fell 
ill  at  Limoges.  In  terror,  he  sent,  begging  his  father  to  come 
and  grant  his  forgiveness.  The  king  did  not  dare  to  accede 
to  the  request;  his  friends  would  not  allow  him  to  venture 
into  the  camp  of  his  sons,  who  had  so  recently  attempted  his 
life.  He  contented  himself  with  sending  a  ring  by  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Bordeaux,  assuring  the  prince  of  his  forgiveness. 
The  prelate  found  the  young  man  dying  upon  a  'bed  of 
ashes,  a  prey  to  remorse  and  despair.  He  died  pressing  to 
his  lips  the  ring  which  his  father  had  sent  to  him,  greatly 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  179 

distressed  at  not  having  received  the  benediction  upon  which 
he  had  hitherto  set  so  little  value. 

A  few  days  afterwards  Limoges  was  taken,  and  the  insti 
gator  of  the  insurrections,  Bertrand  de  Born,  was  made  a 
prisoner ;  he  was  brought  before  the  king  to  receive  sentence ; 
he  said  nothing,  and  did  not  defend  himself.  "  Bertrand," 
said  the  king,  "you  pretend  that  at  no  time  do  you  require 
one  half  of  your  talents ;  know  that  in  this  instance  the 
whole  of  them  would  avail  you  little."  "  Sire,"  replied 
Bertrand,  "it  is  true  that  I  said  that,  and  I  told  the  truth." 
"  And  I  think  that  your  talents  have  deserted  you,"  cried 
Henry,  angrily.  "Ah,  Sire,"  said  Bertrand,  "my  powers 
deserted  me  on  the  day  that  the  brave  young  king,  your 
son,  died;  on  that  day  I  lost  all  my  powers."  The  king 
burst  into  tears.  "  Bertrand,"  he  cried,  "  it  is  but  right 
that  my  son's  death  should  have  unnerved  you,  for  he  was 
more  attached  to  you  than  to  anybody  else  in  the  world ; 
and  I,  for  love  of  him,  give  you  your  life,  your  goods,  and 
your  castle." 

The  poet  Dante  did  not  forgive  Bertrand  de  Born,  as  King 
Henry  had  done,  for  he  placed  him  in  hell.  "  I  saw,"  said 
he,  "  and  I  seem  to  see  it  still,  a  headless  trunk  approach 
us,  and  the  head  being  cut  off,  it  held  it  in  one  hand  by 
the  hair,  like  a  lantern  :  4  Know  that  I  am  Bertrand  de 
Born,  who  gave  bad  advice  to  the  young  king.'  " 

In  the  midst  of  the  general  grief  a  kind  of  union  was 
effected  between  the  father  and  his  remaining  sons,  as  well 
as  between  the  father  and  mother.  Eleanor  was  brought  back 
to  Aquitaine,  and  restored  to  liberty;  but  this  mutual  under 
standing,  so  rare  in  this  royal  family,  only  lasted  for  a  short 
time.  Geoffrey  asked  the  king  to  grant  him  the  countship 
of  Anjou,  and  on  being  refused,  he  retired  to  the  court  of 
France :  death  awaited  him  there ;  he  was  thrown  in  a  tour- 


180  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

nament,   and   trampled    under  foot  by  the    horse   before    the 
attendants  could  come  to  his  assistance. 

Henry  had  two  sons  remaining :  Richard,  who  was  after 
wards  called  "  Cceur-de-Lion,"  and  who  had  inherited  that  ma 
jestic  countenance  which  Peter  of  Blois  attributes  to  his  father, 
whose  almost  square  face  resembled  a  lion's  head ;  and  John 
Lackland,  as  his  father  laughingly  called  him,  who  had  not 
taken  part  in  the  revolts  of  his  brothers,  and  whom  Henry 
esteemed  very  much  for  that  reason.  Richard  had  already 
shown  fresh  signs  of  insubordination.  Eleanor  had  returned 
to  her  prison  at  Winchester,  when  a  call  from  the  East  brought 
a  short  truce  to  the  hostilities  between  France  and  England. 
Jerusalem  had  just  been  retaken  by  the  Mussulmans  (1187) ; 
Pope  Urban  II.  had  died  of  grief  in  consequence.  Gregory 
VIII.,  who  had  succeeded  him,  called  the  Christians  from  the 
West  to  the  deliverance  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  the 
Archbishop  of  Tyre  was  preaching  in  favor  of  the  crusade. 
King  Henry  was  the  first  to  respond  to  the  appeal.  Richard 
assumed  the  cross  as  well  as  his  father.  Philip  Augustus 
manifested  the  same  desire.  A  conference  was  held  under 
the  elm  of  Gisors,  the  famous  tree  at  the  foot  of  which  many 
treaties  had  been  ratified  which  had  remained  in  force  but 
for  a  very  short  time.  The  treaty  of  peace  which  was  there 
agreed  to  in  the  name  of  the  crusade  proved  to  be  no  more 
durable  than  the  others,  and  the  King  of  France  in  his  anger 
caused  the  tree  to  be  rooted  up,  saying  that  no  more  perfidy 
should  be  witnessed  under  its  branches.  It  was  rumored  that 
the  King  of  England  had  the  intention  of  bequeathing  his 
kingdom  to  his  youngest  son.  Richard  had  another  grievance 
against  his  father:  the  latter  had  for  some  time  been  detain 
ing  in  a  castle  the  Princess  Alice  of  France,  who  had  been 
promised  in  marriage  to  Richard,  and  far  from  promoting 
the  union,  he  was  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  divorce  from  Elea- 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY    II.  181 

nor,  with  the  intention,  it  was  said,  of  marrying  the  young 
princess  himself.  Richard  demanded  an  explanation  from  his 
father  of  these  two  infringements  of  his  rights,  asking  for 
his  father's  consent  to  his  marriage  and  an  acknowledgment 
of  himself  as  heir  to  the  throne  of  England. 

Henry  did  not  reply;  he  at  length  proposed  to  marry  the 
Princess  Alice  to  John  Lackland.  Richard  was  not  infatu 
ated  with  her,  for  he  already  dreamed  of  Berengaria  of  Na 
varre  ;  but  he  looked  upon  his  father's  proposal  as  an  indi 
cation  of  his  intentions  respecting  John.  "  Is  it  really  so," 
cried  he ;  "  I  did  not  think  it  possible ;  but  now,  my  friends, 
you  will  see  what  you  little  expected."  And,  kneeling  before 
King  Philip  Augustus,  he  placed  his  hands  in  that  monarch's, 
and  at  once  did  the  latter  homage  for  the  duchies  of  Normandy, 
Brittany,  and  Aquitaine,  as  well  as  for  the  countships  of  Poi- 
tou,  Anjou,  and  Maine,  asking  for  assistance  in  recovering  his 
rights.  Philip  Augustus  accepted  him  as  a  vassal  and  liege, 
and  immediately  gave  up  to  Richard  the  castles  which  he  had 
taken  from  the  latter 's  father. 

This  time  the  shot  had  been  sent  straight  to  the  king's 
heart ;  in  vain  did  he  retire  to  Saumur,  to  recommence  prep 
arations  for  war :  his  energy  and  decision  had  failed  him  ;  he 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Pope's  legates,  who  were  intrusted 
with  the  care  of  attempting  a  reconciliation,  and  contented 
himself  with  rewarding  the  noblemen  of  Normandy,  who 
had  always  remained  true  to  him.  When  the  legate  arrived, 
King  Philip  Augustus,  who  was  too  clever  not  to  discover 
the  weariness  of  the  old  king,  insisted  on  the  conditions  of 
peace  offered  at  the  last  conference,  asking  besides  that  John 
should  accompany  his  brother  in  the  crusade,  without  which 
he  threatened  to  cause  the  greatest  disorder  in  the  king 
dom.  Henry  refused.  "  Then  the  truce  is  at  an  end,"  said 
the  King  of  France.  The  legate  threatened  to  place  the 


182  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VII. 

kingdom  under  an  interdict,  and  to  excommunicate  Philip 
and  Richard.  "I  am  not  afraid  of  your  mercenary  anathe 
mas,"  said  Philip ;  and  Richard,  drawing  his  sword,  cried, 
"I  will  kill  any  insensate  who  dares  to  excommunicate  two 
princes  in  a  single  breath !  "  His  friends  restrained  his  vio 
lence  ;  the  legate  remounted  his  mule  and  retired  in  great 
haste. 

The  French  marched  towards  Le  Mans ;  the  town  was 
taken  and  pillaged.  Aquitaine,  Poitou,  and  Brittany  revolted ; 
treason  was  rife  among  the  English  barons.  Henry  felt  that 
he  was  beaten ;  he  sued  for  peace,  declaring  himself  ready  to 
accept  the  propositions  of  Philip  and  of  Richard.  The  two 
monarchs  met  upon  a  plain  between  Tours  and  Azay.  Rich 
ard  was  not  present.  While  they  were  conferring  in  the 
open  field,  and  still  on  horseback,  the  thunder  roared,  and  a 
violent  storm  broke  forth.  The  nerves  of  King  Henry  had 
been  shaken  by  disease  and  trouble.  He  reeled  in  his  saddle, 
and  his  servants  sustained  him  with  difficulty.  When  he  had 
recovered  his  senses,  he  was  too  ill  to  continue  the  confer 
ence,  and  the  proposals  for  peace  were  sent  to  his  head 
quarters.  They  were  hard  and  humiliating :  an  indemnity 
for  King  Philip  ;  permission  for  his  vassals  to  do  homage  to 
Richard ;  the  restoration  of  the  Princess  Alice  to  a  person 
commissioned  to  deliver  her  with  all  honor  to  her  brother,  or 
her  affianced  husband,  on  the  return  from  the  crusade,  and 
so  forth.  King  Henry  II.,  stretched  upon  his  couch,  listened 
in  silence.  When  an  end  was  made,  he  asked  to  see  a  list 
of  the  barons  who  had  pledged  themselves  to  maintain  the 
cause  of  Philip  and  Richard.  The  first  name  was  that  of  his 
son  John,  Count  of  Mortagne ;  the  unhappy  father  uttered 
a  cry  of  pain.  "  John,  the  son  of  my  heart,"  he  exclaimed, 
44  for  love  of  whom  I  have  brought  upon  myself  all  these 
misfortunes,  —  he,  too,  has  betrayed  me  I  "  He  was  assured 


BURIAL-PLACE   OF  HENRY   II.    AT   FONTEVRAULT. 


CHAP.  VII.]  HENRY  II.  183 

that  it  was  so.  "Let  all  things  henceforth  proceed  as  they 
will,"  he  said,  "  I  have  no  longer  any  regard  for  myself  or 
this  world."  And  he  turned  his  face  again  to  the  wall  in 
the  bitterness  of  his  soul.  His  son  Richard  had  followed 
him,  and  leaning  towards  him,  asked  for  the  kiss  of  peace 
in  ratification  of  the  treaty.  The  king  did  not  refuse  it  as 
he  had  done  before  in  the  case  of  Becket ;  but  Richard  had 
scarcely  left  the  chamber  when  the  indignant  father  mut 
tered  between  his  teeth,  "  May  I  live  to  avenge  myself  on 
thee !  " 

He  gave  orders  to  be  carried  to  Chinon,  oppressed  with  a 
profound  melancholy,  which  was  succeeded  by  a  violent  fever. 
In  his  fits  he  raised  himself  in  his  bed,  invoking  the  ven 
geance  of  Heaven  upon  his  children.  "  Shame,  shame  upon 
a  vanquished  king  —  a  king  dispossessed  of  his  rights,"  he 
cried  ;  "  accursed  be  the  day  when  I  was  born ;  accursed  be 
the  children  that  I  leave  behind  me  ! "  He  directed  his  attend 
ants  to  carry  him  into  the  church,  where  he  expired  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar  on  the  6th  of  July,  1189.  He  had  not  yet 
completed  his  fifty-fifth  year,  but  his  features  were  worn  like 
those  of  an  aged  man.  When  Richard,  stricken  with  horror 
at  the  intelligence  which  he  had  received,  hastened  to  Fonte- 
vrault,  whither  the  corpse  of  his  father  had  been  removed 
without  ceremony,  some  one  had  surrounded  the  royal  fore 
head  with  a  golden  fringe  in  imitation  of  a  crown,  and  it  had 
been  necessary  to  employ  hired  horses  in  order  to  convey 
to  his  last  resting-place  the  powerful  master  of  so  many 
dominions. 

Richard  approached  the  coffin.  A  drop  of  blood  appeared 
under  the  nostrils  of  the  corpse.  "  Yes,  it  is  I  who  have 
killed  him ! "  cried  Richard,  stricken  with  repentance.  He 
fell  on  his  knees  beside  the  dead  body  of  his  father,  re- 


184  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  VII. 

mained    there    a    moment    prostrate,    then    rising,   went    out 
precipitately. 

Ten  years  later,  when  Richard  was  dying  at  the  siege  of 
Chalus,  he  ordered  that  his  body  should  be  conveyed  to 
Fontevrault,  to  be  interred  at  the  feet  of  his  father. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  185 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
RICHARD  CCEUR-DE-LION.  —  JOHN  LACKLAND.  — MAGNA 

CHARTA.      1189-1216. 

THE  first  act  of  the  new  king  was  to  deliver  from  her 
prison  his  mother,  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  to  whom  he 
had  always  been  tenderly  attached.  While  she  was  presiding 
over  the  preparations  for  the  crowning  of  her  son,  dispens 
ing  amnesties,  and  calling  all  free  men  to  swear  allegiance 
to  him,  Richard  arrested  Stephen  of  Tours,  seneschal  of 
Anjou  and  treasurer  to  Henry  II.,  threw  him  into  prison, 
and  did  not  restore  him  to  liberty  until  he  had  been  put  in 
possession  by  him  not  only  of  the  treasures  of  the  dead  king, 
but  of  all  the  personal  property  of  the  treasurer  as  well. 
On  arriving  in  England,  Richard  also  went  in  great  haste 
to  Winchester,  in  order  to  secure  the  riches  which  had  been 
amassed  there  by  his  father.  The  Jews  were  uneasy  at  seeing 
the  new  sovereign  display  so  much  avidity;  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  suffer  for  any  want  of  money  on  the  part  of 
kings,  and  Philip  Augustus  had  just  set  the  example  of  con 
fiscation,  by  driving  them  away  from  his  kingdom  on  his 
accession  (1180),  in  order  to  seize  their  property.  Richard 
contented  himself  with  forbidding  them  to  enter  Westminster 
Abbey ;  but  some  wealthy  Jews,  hoping  to  secure  the  favor 
of  the  new  king  by  rich  presents,  ventured  to  present  them 
selves  among  the  vassals  who  brought  their  offerings  to 
Richard.  The  gifts  were  accepted,  but,  after  the  coronation 
ceremony,  when  Richard,  having  taken  the  crown  from  the 
VOL.  i.  24 


186  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

altar,  in  token  that  he  held  it  from  God  alone,  had  depos 
ited  it  in  the  hands  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who 
placed  it  upon  Richard's  head,  a  noise  was  heard  proceeding 
from  the  gates  of  the  churchyard.  A  Jew  who  attempted 
to  enter  was  pushed  back  ;  on  this  disturbance  being  made, 
the  other  Jews  were  driven  away,  and  then  the  popular 
vengeance  was  wreaked  upon  their  houses,  which  were  set  on 
fire.  A  great  number  of  Jews  were  killed.  The  fury  spread 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  country.  At  York,  the  unhappy 
Jews  retired  into  the  citadel,  where  the  governor  allowed 
them  to  take  refuge.  But  he  went  out  one  day,  and  the 
Jews,  fearful  of  treason,  refused  to  let  him  re-enter.  The 
fortress  was  besieged,  and  when  the  Jews  found  themselves 
about  to  be  taken,  they  set  light  to  an  immense  wood-pile, 
and  threw  themselves  upon  it  with  all  their  riches,  after  hav 
ing  themselves  slain  their  wives  and  children.  Richard  for 
bade  this  persecution  of  the  Jews,  but  did  not  cause  any 
body  to  be  punished  ;  "  and  this  shedding  of  the  Jews'  blood,'* 
says  the  old  chronicler,  "  although  against  the  wish  of  the 
king,  seemed  to  foretell  that  Cceur-de-Lion  would  be  a  plague 
to  the  Saviour's  enemies." 

Richard  appeared  for  the  time  being  to  have  become  imbued 
with  the  commercial  spirit  of  these  much  despised  Israelites. 
He  turned  everything  into  money,  selling  the  royal  domains 
which  his  father  had  been  at  such  pains  to  reconstitute  ;  bar 
tering  away  towns,  castles,  and  even,  sometimes,  property  which 
did  not  belong  to  him.  "  I  would  sell  London,  if  I  could 
find  a  buyer,"  he  said.  The  most  important  offices  in  the 
kingdom  were  disposed  of  by  auction  like  the  domains.  Hugh 
Pudsey,  Bishop  of  Durham,  bought  the  county  of  Northum 
berland  and  the  title  of  Chief  Justicier ;  the  bishoprics  and 
the  abbeys  were  offered  to  the  highest  bidder;  the  King  of 
Scotland  was  released  of  the  tribute  imposed  upon  him  and 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA  CHARTA.  1ST 

his  people  during  his  captivity,  for  the  sum  of  twenty  thou 
sand  marks  ot  silver.  The  crusade  which  Richard  was  pro 
jecting,  and  which  occupied  his  whole  attention,  required 
considerable  sums  of  money,  and  the  king  was  not  very  scru 
pulous  as  to  the  means  he  adopted  for  obtaining  the  money 
which  he  wanted. 

Prince  John,  his  brother,  had  just  received  some  very  large 
gifts  in  Normandy  and  in  England,  but  he  was  not  nominated 
regent  of  the  kingdom  during  Richard's  absence  ;  the  power 
was  divided  between  Bishop  Pudsey  and  William  Longchamp, 
Bishop  of  Ely  and  Chancellor  of  England.  Many  duties 
were  intrusted  to  Queen  Eleanor,  and,  towards  the  end  of 
the  year  1189,  Richard  proceeded  to  Normandy.  He  had 
promised  to  start  on  the  crusade  at  Easter  in  1190.  The 
emissaries  of  King  Philip  Augustus  met  him  at  Rouen,  and 
took  oath  upon  the  soul  of  the  king  their  master  to  a  treaty 
of  alliance,  both  offensive  and  defensive,  between  the  two 
sovereigns,  —  the  King  of  France  undertaking  to  respect  and 
defend  the  rights  of  the  King  of  England  as  he  would  his 
good  city  of  Paris ;  while  the  English  delegates  swore,  on 
the  soul  of  the  King  of  England,  to  perform  the  same  services 
for  King  Philip  as  he  would  for  his  good  city  of  Rouen. 
The  Kings  of  England  were  still,  before  all,  Dukes  of  Nor 
mandy. 

The  Queen  of  France,  Isabella  of  Hainault,  had  just  died, 
and  the  departure  for  the  crusade  was  postponed  until  mid 
summer.  The  two  kings  at  length  met  on  the  plains  of 
Vezelay,  accompanied,  it  is  said,  by  a  hundred  thousand  cru 
saders.  They  marched  across  the  country  together  as  far  as 
Lyons,  and  then  separated,  after  having  made  an  appointment 
to  meet  at  Messina.  Philip  marched  towards  Genoa,  where 
he  expected  to  find  those  of  his  vessels  which  were  destined 
for  foreign  service.  Richard  was  going  to  Marseilles ;  his 


188  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP. 

fleet  was  to  come  and  meet  him  there.  England  was  no 
longer  at  the  mercy  of  the  Genoese  or  Venetian  merchants, 
being  in  possession  of  a  considerable  number  of  vessels.  But 
the  English  ships  were  delayed;  they  experienced  some  mis 
haps  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay ;  some  had  sought  shelter  in  Por 
tugal.  Richard  became  impatient,  and  hiring  some  mercantile 
barks,  he  set  out  with  a  portion  of  his  forces,  in  order  to 
arrive  sooner  at  Messina  to  meet  the  King  of  France.  But 
the  English  ships  sailed  faster  than  the  Marseilles  barks  ; 
when  the  king  arrived  in  Sicily,  his  fleet  had  preceded  him. 
The  kingdom  of  Sicily  had  for  some  time  lost  its  sover 
eign,  William  the  Good,  brother-in-law  to  King  Richard,  and 
his  cousin  Tancred,  Count  of  Luce,  had  been  elected  king 
in  his  stead.  The  dowager  queen,  Joanna,  Richard's  sister, 
claimed  her  jointure,  which  Tancred  held  unjustly,  as  she 
said.  Scarcely  had  Richard  set  foot  in  Sicily,  when,  without 
waiting  for  the  negotiations  to  be  made,  he  took  possession  of 
the  castle  and  of  the  town  of  Bagnara,  and  established  his 
sister  there,  who  had  arrived  before  him  ;  then  returning  to 
Messina,  he  drove  the  monks  from  a  convent  which  suited 
his  purposes,  and  converted  it  into  a  barrack.  So  many 
outrages  roused  the  people,  who  shut  the  gates  against  Rich 
ard's  troops.  A  conference  was  being  held  in  the  camp  of 
Philip  Augustus  for  adjusting  this  difference,  when  a  fresh 
quarrel  broke  out  between  the  Sicilians  and  the  English 
troops.  Richard  left  the  royal  tent  in  great  haste,  assembled 
his  men,  and  running  helter-skelter  among  the  citizens,  he 
entered  Messina  and  planted  his  banner  upon  the  ramparts. 
Philip  Augustus  at  once  demanded  that  his  own  banner  should 
also  be  planted  there  ;  but  Richard  consented  to  give  up  the 
town  into  the  hands  of  the  Knights  Templars,  pending  the 
decision  respecting  his  sister's  pretensions;  and  King  Tancred 
hastened  the  negotiations,  being  anxious  to  rid  himself  of  so 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  189 

turbulent  and  formidable  a  guest.  Queen  Joanna  obtained 
a  large  sum  of  money,  and  King  Richard  received  his  share 
of  it,  which  he  scattered  broadcast  among  the  crusaders, 
thus  finding  favor  with  the  French  as  well  as  the  English, 
the  Normans,  and  the  Aquitanians. 

Philip  Augustus,  courageous  and  bold  as  he  was  when 
necessary,  did  not  possess  in  as  great  a  degree  as  the  King 
of  England  the  brilliant  qualities  which  then  constituted  a 
true  knight ;  he  was  more  prudent  and  cunning  than  Richard ; 
perhaps  he  was  even  given  to  dissimulation,  for  Tancred  ac 
cused  him  before  the  King  of  England  of  having  endeavored 
to  dissuade  him  from  negotiating  with  Richard ;  and  when 
the  latter  came  and  complained  angrily  to  Philip,  a  quarrel 
was  about  to  break  out  between  the  two  brothers  in  arms, 
who  had  sworn  to  help  each  other  in  the  holy  enterprise. 
Richard  thereby  gained  permission,  accorded  to  him  by  the 
King  of  France,  to  marry  whoever  he  chose  instead  of  the 
Princess  Alice,  the  sister  of  Philip  Augustus.  It  was  high 
time  for  Richard  to  disengage  himself  from  previous  contracts, 
for  Queen  Eleanor  was  to  bring  back  to  her  son  the  Princess 
Berengaria,  whom  she  had  been  to  Navarre  to  fetch.  They 
were  only  waiting  until  the  departure  of  Philip  to  celebrate 
the  marriage.  Bad  weather  had  prolonged  the  stay  of  the 
King  of  France  at  Messina  until  Lent,  and  Richard's  marriage 
with  Berengaria  had  not  yet  been  solemnized  when  Philip 
left  Sicily,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1191,  upon  his  ship  "  Franc- 
la-Mer,"  at  the  head  of  more  than  two  hundred  vessels.  The 
Queen  of  Sicily  took  the  young  princess  away  with  her. 

The  weather  was  unfavorable,  and  the  fleet  was  dispersed. 
When  King  Richard,  suffering  from  sea-sickness,  landed  at 
Rhodes,  he  was  almost  alone,  and  he  learned  that  the  vessel, 
the  "  Lion,"  with  the  princesses  on  board,  had  been  driven 
ashore  on  the  coast  of  Cyprus;  the  governor  of  the  island, 


190  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

or,  as  he  called  himself,  the  Emperor  Isaac  Comnenus,  had 
not  allowed  them  to  disembark ;  the  sailors  who  had  ventured 
to  land  had  even  been  ill-treated. 

Much  less  provocation  would  have  sufficed  to  arouse  the 
anger  and  vengeance  of '  Cceur-de-Lion.  He  immediately  left 
Rhodes,  sailed  to  Cyprus,  took  possession  of  the  island,  and 
made  prisoners  of  the  emperor  and  his  daughter,  gave  the 
latter  to  Berengaria  for  an  attendant,  and  placed  Isaac  Com 
nenus  in  silver  chains,  which  the  latter  wore  until  his  death. 
Richard  was  married  in  the  church  of  Limasol  on  the  day 
after  Easter,  in  order  to  set  out  immediately  for  Acre,  the 
siege  of  which  town  had  already  commenced,  in  spite  of  the 
plague,  which  was  decimating  the  army. 

The  prowess  of  King  Richard  soon  attracted  towards  him 
the  eyes  of  the  crusaders  and  of  the  Mussulmans  themselves. 
Stricken  with  the  fever,  he  would  cause  himself  to  be  carried 
upon  a  litter  to  the  ramparts,  and  would  there  direct  the 
movements  of  the  troops.  He  distributed  among  the  knights 
the  money  taken  at  Cyprus.  The  jealousy  of  King  Philip 
gained  ground  day  by  day.  Accustomed  to  consider  himself 
superior  to  the  King  of  England,  who  was  his  vassal,  Philip 
was  annoyed  at  seeing  his  own  authority  lessened  in  conse 
quence  of  the  prodigious  valor  of  Richard,  "the  King,"  as 
he  was  called  everywhere  in  the  East,  in  disregard  of  the 
rights  of  the  King  of  France. 

The  French  knights  and  their  adherents  on  the  one  hand, 
the  English  knights  and  their  allies  on  the  other,  had  vainly 
endeavored  to  take  the  town  by  storm.  Saladin,  the  sultan 
of  the  Arabs,  kept  aloof,  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  relieve 
Acre.  But  the  Christian  army  completely  surrounded  it  — 
"  as  the  eyeball  the  eye,"  say  the  Oriental  historians  —  so 
completely,  in  fact,  that  at  the  moment  when  the  chiefs  of 
the  Christian  army,  temporarily  reconciled,  were  preparing  to 


RICHARD   REMOVING  THE   BANNER  OF  THE   ARCHDUKE. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  191 

attack  the  town  in  unison,  the  Mussulman  garrison  surren 
dered,  their  lives  being  spared,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1191, 
and  Saladin  retired  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  Philip 
and  Richard  immediately  entered  Acre  at  the  head  of  their 
armies,  and  planted  their  banners  upon  the  ramparts.  The 
King  of  England  had  taken  possession  of  the  sultan's  palace, 
without  troubling  himself  to  find  a  residence  for  Philip;  and 
when  he  learned  that  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  Leopold,  had 
set  up  his  banner  at  the  side  of  the  standard  of  England, 
he  went  and  tore  it  down  with  his  own  hands,  and  threw  it 
into  the  trenches,  indignantly  asking  how  a  duke  could  have 
any  pretensions  to  the  honors  exclusively  reserved  for  kings. 
Richard  was  destined  to  pay  dearly  for  these  haughty  pro 
ceedings. 

Scarcely  had  the  crusaders  entered  Acre  when  King  Philip 
announced  his  intention  of  returning  to  Europe.  In  vain  was 
he  urged  to  persevere  in  the  holy  enterprise ;  in  vain  his 
emissaries  who  were  intrusted  to  announce  this  news  to  King 
Richard  were  so  ashamed  of  it  that  they  wept  and  said 
nothing.  Philip  insisted  on  returning  to  France,  which  coun 
try  he  would  have  been  wise  not  to  have  left  in  the  preced 
ing  year.  Ten  thousand  French  crusaders  remained  in  the 
East,  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  The 
King  of  France  solemnly  swore  not  to  make  any  attempt  upon 
Richard's  dominions,  and  set  sail  on  the  31st  of  July,  leaving 
the  Christian  army  a  prey  to  the  dissensions  to  which  the 
succession  to  the  throne  of  the  still  unconquered  city  of  Jeru 
salem  gave  rise.  Sybil,  granddaughter  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
had  just  died,  and  her  husband,  Hugh  of  Lusignan,  was  one 
of  the  two  pretenders  to  the  title  of  King  of  Jerusalem,  the 
other  being  Conrad  of  Montferrat,  husband  of  Isabella,  sister 
of  Sybil.  The  King  of  France  espoused  the  cause  of  Con 
rad,  and  Richard  supported  Lusignan.  It  was  in  the  midst 


192  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

of  these  differences  that  the  crusaders,  under  the  command 
of  the  King  of  England,  commenced  a  march  across  the 
desert  of  Mount  Carmel.  Exhausted  by  the  heat,  they  were 
also  harassed  by  the  Arab  horsemen,  who  were  more  embit 
tered  than  ever  against  the  Christians;  for  the  term  fixed 
for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  having  gone  by  without  Sala- 
din  having  sent  back  those  in  his  possession,  the  King  of 
England  had  caused  all  the  Mussulman  prisoners  to  be  led 
out  of  the  camp  and  to  be  slaughtered  before  the  sultan's 
eyes.  The  soldiers  even  went  as  far  as  searching  the  entrails 
of  their  victims  for  any  gold  or  precious  stones  which  they 
might  have  swallowed. 

A  great  battle  was  fought  at  Arsouf  on  the  7th  of  Sep 
tember  ;  King  Richard  performed  prodigies  of  valor  and 
opened  up  a  road  to  Jaffa.  Saladin  was  at  Ascalon,  when 
the  crusaders,  who  had  arrived  at  Bethany,  were  compelled 
to  give  up  their  intention  of  laying  siege  to  Jerusalem  on 
account  of  the  bad  weather.  The  sultan  at  once  abandoned 
Ascalon,  dismantling  the  ramparts,  and  thus  making  the  way 
clear  for  Richard.  The  latter  hastened  to  repair  the  fortifi 
cations.  In  order  to  encourage  the  soldiers,  he  himself  carried 
stones  to  the  workers,  and  urged  the  Archduke  Leopold  to 
do  likewise.  "  I  am  not  the  son  of  a  mason,"  replied  the 
Austrian,  whereupon  Richard,  in  a  fit  of  passion,  struck  him 
in  the  face.  Leopold  at  once  left  the  army  and  set  out  to 
return  to  his  states,  followed  by  his  soldiers. 

In  vain  was  Ascalon  fortified  ;  in  vain  did  Richard  agree 
to  confer  the  crown  of  Jerusalem  upon  Conrad  of  Montfer- 
rat,  in  the  hope  of  re-establishing  a  mutual  understanding  in 
order  to  be  able  to  march  against  Jerusalem.  That  prince 
was  almost  immediately  murdered  by  two  emissaries  of  the 
"  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,"  a  mysterious  sovereign,  whose 
devotees,  intoxicated  by  the  fumes  of  haschich,  blindly  obeyed 


RICHARD   CCEUR  DE   LIOX   HAVING  THE   SARACENS   BEHEADED. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  193 

his  orders.  This  crime  was  attributed  to  the  King  of  Eng 
land,  who  afterwards  quarrelled  with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
depriving  himself  of  the  support  of  the  French  as  he  had 
previously  deprived  himself  of  that  of  the  Austrians.  They 
had  again  advanced  as  far  as  Bethany,  and  a  band  of  crusad 
ers  had  ascended  a  mountain  overlooking  Jerusalem.  King 
Richard  was  asked  to  come  and  see  the  holy  city  in  the  dis 
tance.  "  No,"  said  he,  covering  his  face  with  his  cloak; 
*4  those  who  are  not  worthy  of  conquering  Jerusalem  should 
not  look  at  it."  The  crusaders  retraced  their  steps  as  far 
as  Acre. 

On  arriving  at  that  town,  Richard  suddenly  learned  that 
Saladin  was  besieging  Jaffa.  He  embarked  at  once  and  sailed 
to  the  rescue.  The  crescent  already  shone  upon  the  walls, 
but  a  priest,  who  had  cast  himself  into  the  water  in  front  of 
the  royal  vessel,  told  Richard  that  he  could  yet  save  the 
garrison,  although  the  town  was  already  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  The  ship  had  not  yet  reached  the  landing-stage,  and 
already  the  king  was  in  the  water,  which  reached  his  shoul 
ders,  and  was  uttering  the  war-cry,  "  St.  George ! "  The 
infidels,  who  were  busy  plundering  the  city,  took  fright,  and 
three  thousand  men  fled,  pursued  by  four  or  five  knights  of 
the  cross.  The  little  corps  of  Christians  intrenched  them 
selves  behind  planks  of  wood  and  tuns ;  ten  tents  held  the 
whole  of  the  army.  Day  had  scarcely  dawned,  when  a  sol 
dier  flew  to  Richard's  bedside.  "  O  king !  we  are  dead 
men  !  "  he  cried ;  "  the  enemy  is  upon  us."  The  king  sprang 
up  from  his  bed,  scarcely  allowing  himself  time  to  buckle  on 
his  armor,  and  omitting  his  helmet  and  shield.  "  Silence  !  " 
he  said  to  the  bearer  of  the  bad  news,  "  or  I  will  kill  you." 
Seventeen  knights  had  gathered  round  Cceur-de-Lion,  kneel 
ing  on  the  ground,  and  holding  their  lances ;  in  their  midst 
were  some  archers,  accompanied  by  attendants  who  were  re- 

VOL.  i.  25 


194  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIIL 

charging  their  arquebuses.  The  king  was  standing  in  the 
midst.  The  Saracens  endeavored  in  vain  to  overawe  this 
heroic  little  band  ;  not  one  of  them  stirred.  At  length, 
under  a  shower  of  arrows,  the  knights  sprang  on  their  horses, 
and  swept  the  plain  before  them.  They  entered  Jaffa  towards 
evening,  and  drove  the  Mussulmans  from  it.  From  the  time 
of  daybreak,  Richard  had  not  ceased  for  a  moment  to  deal 
out  his  blows,  and  the  skin  of  his  hand  adhered  to  the  han 
dle  of  his  battle-axe.  The  remembrance  of  this  day  had  not 
faded  when,  more  than  fifty  years  later,  St.  Louis  led  the 
French  troops  to  the  crusade.  Joinville  heard  the  Saracen 
mothers  scolding  their  children  and  threatening  them  with 
Malek-Rik,  a  name  which  the  Mussulmans  gave  to  King  Rich 
ard.  Such  severe  fatigue  under  the  burning  sun  had  affected 
the  health  of  Cceur-de-Lion.  Disquieting  news  came  from 
his  dominions.  He  concluded  a  truce  with  Saladin,  giving 
up  Ascalon  to  him,  but  keeping  Jaffa,  Tyre,  and  the  fortresses 
along  the  coast,  and  promising  to  refrain  from  any  hostilities 
during  a  period  of  three  years,  three  months,  three  weeks, 
three  days,  and  three  hours.  "  Then  I  will  come  back," 
said  Richard,  "  with  double  the  number  of  men  that  I  now 
possess,  and  will  reconquer  Jerusalem."  Saladin  smiled,  ac 
knowledging,  however,  that  if  the  Holy  City  was  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  Christians,  no  one  was  more  worthy  of  con 
quering  it  than  Malek-Rik.  The  two  adversaries  had  con 
ceived  for  each  other  a  feeling  of  chivalrous  admiration  and 
esteem,  which  is  the  theme  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  novel,  "  The 
Talisman."  Numerous  presents  had  been  exchanged  by  them 
during  the  war ;  and  when  Richard  was  suffering  from  fever, 
and  was  perishing  with  thirst,  he  received  each  day  fruits 
and  cooling  drinks  which  were  sent  to  him  by  the  sultan. 

It  was  on  the  9th  of  October,  1192,  that  Richard  Cceur-de- 
Lion   left   Palestine.      Standing  upon   the   poop   of    his   ship, 


RICHARD'S   FAREWELL  TO   THE   HOLY  LAND. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  195 

he  was  surveying  the  shore,  then  fading  from  sight.  "  O, 
Holy  Land !  "  cried  he,  "  I  leave  you  to  God,  you  and 
your  people.  May  He  help  me  to  come  back  to  your  assist 
ance  ! "  The  English  ships  were  sailing  together,  when  a 
storm  arose  and  dispersed  them.  The  one  which  carried  the 
two  queens  arrived  in  Sicily,  but  King  Richard  was  not  with 
them,  and  no  one  knew  what  had  become  of  him.  Driven 
at  first  towards  the  island  of  Corfu,  he  had  hired  three  small 
vessels,  which  had  taken  him  to  Zara,  whence  he  hoped  to 
reach  his  nephew,  Otho  of  Saxony,  son  of  his  sister  Matilda. 
He  found  himself  surrounded  by  enemies  and  threatened  on 
all  sides.  He  knew  that  King  Philip  had  entered  into  a 
league  with  John  Lackland,  in  order  to  deprive  him  of  his 
kingdom  ;  the  Emperor  Henry  had  laid  claim  to  the  throne 
of  Sicily,  and  had  not  forgiven  Richard  for  his  alliance  with 
Tancred  ;  Leopold  of  Austria  had  not  abandoned  all  hope 
of  revenge ;  and  everywhere  the  relations  of  Conrad  of  Mont- 
ferrat  were  accusing  the  King  of  England  of  having  been  the 
cause  of  the  death  of  their  ally.  Richard  assumed  the  garb 
of  a  merchant,  and  started  on  his  journey  through  the  moun 
tains  of  the  Tyrol.  He  arrived  at  Goritz  in  Carinthia,  where 
he  sent  and  asked  for  a  passport  for  Baldwin  of  Bethune, 
one  of  his  knights,  and  for  Hugh  the  merchant.  The  messen 
ger  was  instructed  at  the  same  time  to  present  the  governor 
with  a  ring  which  the  merchant  sent  him.  The  governor 
scrutinized  the  messenger.  "You  are  not  speaking  the  truth," 
cried  he.  "It  is  not  a  merchant  who  sends  me  this  ring, 
but  King  Richard.  But  as  he  honors  me  with  his  gifts  with 
out  knowing  me,  although  I  am  the  cousin  of  Conrad  of  Mont- 
ferrat,  I  will  do  him  no  injury.  Tell  him,  however,  to  leave 
this  place  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  governor  of  Goritz  did  not  wish  to  arrest  King  Rich 
ard,   but  he  had  not  promised  to  keep   the   secret.     He  in- 


196  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

formed  Frederick  of  Montferrat,  Conrad's  brother,  that  Coeur- 
de-Lion  was  about  to  travel  across  his  dominions.  Recognized 
by  a  Norman  knight,  the  king  was  saved  by  a  faithful  vassal, 
and  had  arrived  in  the  states  of  the  Duke  of  Austria,  when 
he  fell  ill  in  the  village  of  Erperg,  a  short  distance  from 
Vienna.  A  page  was  dispatched  to  the  capital  to  exchange 
some  gold  bezants  for  current  coin  of  the  country.  He  was 
noticed  and  interrogated,  and  being  put  under  torture,  he 
divulged  his  master's  name.  Richard  was  stretched  upon  his 
bed,  sleeping,  when  the  mayor  of  Vienna  entered  his  little 
apartment.  "  Good  morrow,  King  of  England,"  he  said. 
"  You  hide  in  vain,  for  your  face  betrays  you." 

The  king  had  already  seized  his  sword,  protesting  that  he 
would  only  surrender  to  the  duke  himself.  Leopold  was  un 
willing  to  let  any  one  else  have  the  honor  of  making  the 
capture  ;  he  soon  arrived,  and  received  the  King  of  England's 
sword.  "  You  should  esteem  yourself  fortunate,  Sire,"  said 
the  duke,  with  a  smile  of  revengeful  satisfaction ;  "if  you 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  relations  of  Conrad  of  Mont 
ferrat,  you  would  have  been  a  dead  man,  even  if  you  had 
had  a  thousand  lives."  And  triumphantly  leading  forth  his 
prisoner,  whom  he  reminded  on  the  road  of  the  insult  which 
had  been  formerly  offered  to  the  Austrian  flag,  he  shut  Rich 
ard  up  in  the  castle  of  Tyrnstein.  But  the  emperor  at  once 
claimed  the  illustrious  captive.  "  A  duke  cannot  possibly 
keep  a  king  ! "  he  urged  ;  "it  is  the  right  of  an  emperor." 
And  Richard  was  conducted  to  the  castle  of  Trifels,  where 
he  languished  for  two  years. 

While  King  Richard  had  been  acquiring  glory  in  Palestine 
without  any  signal  advantage  gained  to  the  Christian  cause, 
disorder  reigned  supreme  over  his  kingdom ;  the  Chancellor 
Longchamp  had  seized  upon  the  power,  casting  his  fellow- 
bishop  of  Durham  into  prison,  and  only  setting  him  free  at 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA  CHARTA.  197 

the  price  of  all  the  dignities  which  the  latter  had  bought 
of  Richard.  The  chancellor  was  able  and  devoted  to  the 
king,  but  haughty,  arrogant,  despotic,  and,  above  all,  rapa 
cious,  as  all  powerful  men  were  at  that  time.  "  If  he  had 
remained  master,"  say  the  chronicles,  "he  would  not  have 
left  a  belt  to  the  men,  a  bracelet  to  the  women,  a  ring  to 
the  knights,  or  a  jewel  to  the  Jews."  But  scarcely  had 
King  Richard  arrived  in  Palestine  when  Prince  John  unmasked 
himself.  Having  raised  an  army  against  the  chancellor,  he 
claimed  the  supreme  authority  on  the  ground  of  his  being 
heir-presumptive  to  the  crown,  resolutely  refusing  to  recog 
nize  the  rights  of  Arthur  of  Brittany,  son  of  Geoffrey,  whom 
Richard  had  repeatedly  nominated  as  his  successor.  Badly 
supported  by  the  barons,  Longchamp  was  beaten,  and  com 
pelled  to  agree  to  a  truce.  By  means  of  intrigue  and  con 
cessions,  John  first  of  all  caused  himself  to  be  recognized  by 
the  regent  and  the  council  as  heir  to  the  throne,  then  obtained 
the  deposition  of  the  chancellor,  and  saw  himself  raised  to 
the  dignity  of  governor-general  of  the  kingdom.  It  was  on 
the  9th  of  October,  1191,  while  King  Richard  was  fortifying 
the  town  of  Jaffa,  after  the  victory  of  Ascalon.  The  new 
regent  offered  to  allow  Longchamp  to  keep  his  diocese  of 
Ely,  and  have  the  governorship  of  three  royal  castles.  "  No," 
said  the  deposed  chancellor,  "I  will  not  willingly  give  up  any 
of  my  master's  rights  ;  but  you  are  stronger  than  I,  and  chan 
cellor  and  chief  justicier  as  I  am,  I  yield  to  superior  power." 
He  consigned  the  keys  of  the  Tower  to  Prince  John,  and 
made  preparation  for  leaving  England.  No  doubt  he  knew 
the  prince  too  well  not  to  fear  some  treachery,  for  he  dis 
guised  himself  as  a  travelling  tradeswoman,  and,  accompanied 
by  a  large  number  of  boxes,  he  waited  near  Dover  for  the 
ship  which  was  to  carry  him  to  France.  The  vessel  was 
delayed  ;  some  fishermen's  wives,  passing  along  the  beach, 


198  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

asked  if  they  might  look  at  his  goods  ;  but  the  Chancellor 
of  England  did  not  understand  English,  but  only  spoke  Nor 
man,  and  therefore  could  not  answer ;  the  women,  being 
impatient,  declared  that  the  owner  of  the  boxes  must  be  a 
mad  woman,  and  raised  her  veil.  They  started  back  at  see 
ing  a  man's  face  underneath  it.  The  fishermen  rushed  to 
the  spot ;  and,  suspecting  some  sinister  purpose  in  the  dis 
guise,  they  subjected  Longchamp  to  ill-treatment  until  the 
officers  of  the  guard  came,  tore  him  from  their  grasp,  and 
took  him  to  prison.  The  Chancellor  had  much  difficulty  in 
getting  free  again,  and  in  obtaining  permission  to  proceed  to 
France.  The  Archbishop  of  Rouen  was  created  chancellor 
and  chief  justicier  in  his  stead. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  October,  1192,  when  King  Richard 
was  just  setting  sail  from  Acre,  that  rumors  of  his  approach 
ing  return  were  spread  throughout  Europe  ;  but  in  vain  did 
days,  weeks,  months  elapse.  The  champion  of  the  Cross, 
Cceur-de-Lion,  had  disappeared,  and  his  fate  remained  shroud 
ed  in  mystery,  when,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1193,  a 
letter  from  the  Emperor  Henry  VI.  to  the  King  of  France, 
discovered  by  accident,  revealed  the  fact  of  Richard's  incar 
ceration  in  Austria.  "  The  enemy  of  the  Empire  and  the 
disturber  of  France,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  is  imprisoned  in  a 
castle  in  the  Tyrol,  and  watched  day  and  night  by  faithful 
guards  with  naked  swords."  The  exact  whereabouts  of  the 
castle  remained  a  secret. 

The  effect  of  this  news  in  Europe  was  wonderful ;  Rich 
ard's  reputation  had  caused  people  to  forget  his  pride  and 
avarice.  Prince  John  was  as  proud  and  as  avaricious  as  his 
brother,  without  the  fitful  generosity  and  brilliant  valor  which 
in  Richard  compensated  for  so  many  faults :  the  clergy  remem 
bered  the  great  deeds  performed  for  the  deliverance  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre ;  all  the  noblemen  and  knights  were  disgusted 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  199 

at  the  treachery  which  kept  a  king  and  a  crusader  in  an 
unknown  prison ;  the  Pope  excommunicated  the  Archduke 
Leopold,  and  threatened  the  Emperor  with  the  same  penalty ; 
Prince  John  and  the  King  of  France  alone  rejoiced  at  the 
powerless  state  in  which  their  enemy  found  himself.  The 
prince  hastened  to  Paris  to  do  homage  to  Philip  for  all  the 
dominions  which  the  King  of  England  held  upon  the  Conti 
nent  ;  and  then,  recrossing  the  Channel,  he  commenced  prep 
arations  for  raising  an  army,  to  enable  him  to  dispute  his 
brother's  claim  to  the  crown ;  but  already  the  barons  and 
prelates  who  remained  faithful  to  Richard  had  unfurled  the 
royal  standard ;  the  hired  soldiers  gathered  together  by  John 
were  repulsed,  and  the  feeble  usurper  was  compelled  to  con 
sent  to  an  armistice.  His  ally  of  France  had  been  unsuccess 
ful  at  Rouen,  which  was  defended  by  the  Earl  of  Essex, 
who  had  recently  arrived  from  Palestine.  Philip  had  been 
compelled  to  quit  that  town. 

The  ex-Chancellor  Longchamp  had  at  length  discovered 
the  king's  prison,  and  had  gone  to  see  him.  He  managed  to 
induce  the  emperor  to  convoke  the  Diet  of  the  Empire  at 
Hagenau,  in  order  to  hear  the  charges  against  Richard.  The 
King  of  England  appeared  before  the  princes  there  assembled, 
and  cleared  himself  easily  of  the  accusations  brought  against 
him.  The  emperor  consented  to  deliver  him  up  for  a  ransom ; 
the  sum  fixed  was  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  marks  of 
silver.  The  king's  fetters  were  removed,  and  he  was  led 
back  to  his  prison,  there  to  remain  until  the  united  efforts 
of  his  people  should  raise  the  required  sum  of  money.  "  My 
brother  John  will  never  gain  a  kingdom  by  his  valor ! " 
Coeur-de-Lion  had  disdainfully  declared  on  hearing  of  that 
prince's  treachery.  But  John  could  plot,  and,  supported  by 
Philip  Augustus,  he  contributed  greatly  towards  postponing 
the  deliverance  of  his  brother.  Richard  was  still  languishing 


200  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

in  prison  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1194,  lamenting  his  fate 
in  Provei^al  ballads,  which  may  be  translated  thus:  — 

"Now  know  ye  well,  my  barons,  people,  all, 
English  and  Norman,  Gascon  and  Poitevin, 
That  for  no  money  would  I  leave  in  thrall 
The  poorest  of  my  comrades  thus  to  pine. 
Reproach  I  made  not  nor  desire  withal, 
Though  now  two  winters  here." 

The  period  of  his  captivity  was  at  length,  however,  draw 
ing  to  an  end.  In  vain  did  Philip  Augustus  and  Prince 
John  propose  to  the  Emperor  Henry  a  much  larger  sum  than 
Richard's  ransom,  if  he  would  still  keep  the  latter  in  prison. 
The  princes  of  the  Empire  opposed  the  offer  indignantly,  and 
when  the  first  half  of  the  ransom  arrived,  in  the  month  of 
February,  1194,  the  king  was  at  length  restored  to  liberty. 
He  landed  at  Sandwich  on  the  13th  of  March,  to  the  great 
delight  of  his  subjects.  Prince  John  had  taken  refuge  in 
Normandy,  and  the  other  traitors  had  disappeared.  Richard 
seized  upon  several  castles,  deprived  several  rebels  of  their 
offices,  and  sold  them  to  the  highest  bidder ;  then,  levying 
another  tax  upon  a  country  exhausted  by  war  and  by  the 
payment  of  the  royal  ransom,  he  hastened  to  France,  to  pun 
ish  her  king  for  the  injuries  inflicted  upon  him  by  that  mon 
arch.  On  disembarking,  Richard  was  met  by  his  brother, 
who  reckoned  upon  the  intercession  of  his  mother  to  obtain 
the  forgiveness  of  the  sovereign  whom  he  had  so  cruelly 
wronged.  "  I  forgive  him,"  said  Richard ;  "  and  I  hope  that 
I  shall  forget  his  misdeeds  as  completely  as  he  will  forget 
my  forgiveness."  He  refused,  however,  to  reinstate  John  in 
his  land  and  castles. 

War  was  still  raging  between  the  two  monarchs,  with  vari 
able  success.  Richard  was  enabled  to  wreak  his  vengeance 
upon  the  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  who  had  formerly  been  intrusted 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  201 

with  missions  from  Philip  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany.  That 
prelate,  having  been  made  a  prisoner  during  a  battle,  by 
Merchadec,  chief  of  the  Brabantines  in  Richard's  service,  was 
imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  Rouen.  In  vain  did  he  implore 
the  intervention  of  Pope  Celestine  III.  in  his  favor ;  the  King 
of  England  sent  the  armor,  stained  with  the  bishop's  blood, 
to  the  pontiff,  with  this  quotation  from  Scripture  :  "  See 
whether  it  is  your  son's  garment."  The  Pope  laughed.  "  It 
is  the  coat  of  a  son  of  Mars,"  said  he  ;  "  let  Mars  undertake 
to  deliver  him ;  "  and  the  bishop  remained  in  prison  until  the 
death  of  King  Richard. 

So  many  struggles  were  necessarily  burdensome;  "from  sea 
to  sea  England  was  ruined,"  say  the  chroniclers.  A  citizen 
of  London,  William  Fitz-Osbert,  better  known  by  his  title  of 
"  Longbeard,"  constituted  himself  the  champion  of  the  poor, 
endeavoring,  first  of  all,  by  interceding  with  the  king,  to  obtain 
a  lessening  of  the  burdens  which  were  crushing  them.  The* 
king  wanted  money.  Longbeard  achieved  no  result,  and 
came  back  to  England,  where  he  organized  a  secret  associa 
tion.  He  began  a  series  of  public  orations,  causing  danger 
ous  riots  in  London,  where  he  was  looked  upon  by  the  people 
as  their  king  and  savior.  The  authorities  endeavored  to  arrest 
him,  but  he  took  refuge  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Arches,  with  a  few  supporters,  where  he  defended  himself 
until  the  building  being  set  'on  fire  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
it ;  he  was  wounded,  captured,  and  dragged  to  Smithfield, 
where  he  was  hanged.  The  people  had  done  nothing  to 
rescue  him  ;  but  it  was  found  necessary  to  punish  the  fanat 
ics  who  came  by  night  to  scrape  up  the  earth  at  the  foot 
of  his  gibbet,  to  be  preserved  as  a  relic. 

King  Richard  had  defeated  Philip  Augustus  at  the  gates 
of  Gisors.  While  making  his  escape,  the  King  of  France 
had  almost  been  drowned  in  the  river.  "  I  made  him  drink 

VOL.  i.  26 


202  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

the  water  of  the  Epte,"  Richard  wrote  triumphantly.  But 
the  day  was  approaching  which  was  to  see  the  end  of  so 
many  heroic  but  fruitless  struggles ;  it  was  rumored  in  Nor 
mandy  that  an  arrow  was  being  fashioned  in  Limousin,  which 
was  destined  to  kill  a  tyrant.  The  King  of  England  learned 
that  his  vassal,  the  Viscount  of  Limoges,  had  discovered  a 
treasure.  He  at  once  sent  to  claim  it  of  the  viscount,  who 
sent  him  one  half  of  his  treasure  trove  upon  a  mule.  "  Gold 
treasure  belongs  to  the  liege-lord ;  silver  is  divided,'*  said 
the  viscount.  But  Richard  wanted  the  whole ;  he  marched 
against  the  castle  of  Chalus,  where  he  expected  to  find  the 
treasure,  and  laid  siege  to  the  place.  It  was  well  defended, 
but  provisions  had  run  short;  the  garrison  wished  to  capit 
ulate.  "No,"  said  Richard;  "  I  will  take  your  place  by  storm, 
and  cause  you  all  to  be  hanged  on  the  walls."  The  defend 
ers  of  the  town  were  in  despair  ;  the  king  and  Merchadec 
were  examining  the  point  of  attack,  when  a  young  archer, 
Bertrand  de  Gourdon,  pulled  his  bow,  and  praying  to  God 
to  direct  the  arrow,  aimed  it  at  the  king ;  the  latter  was 
struck  on  the  left  shoulder.  The  town,  however,  was  taken 
by  assault,  and  all  the  garrison  were  hanged.  The  king 
sent  for  Gourdon.  He  was  dying,  for  an  unskilful  surgeon 
had  broken  the  arrow,  and  left  the  steel  portion  in  the 
wound.  "  Wretch!"  said  he  to  the  archer,  "what  had  I 
done  to  you  that  you  should  have  attempted  my  life  ?  " 
"  You  have  put  my  father  and  two  brothers  to  death,"  said 
Bertrand,  "  and  you  wanted  to  hang  me."  "I  forgive  you/' 
cried  Richard  ;  "let  his  chains  be  removed,  and  let  him  re 
ceive  one  hundred  shillings."  Merchadec  took  no  heed  of 
the  royal  pardon,  but  caused  Bertrand  de  Gourdon  to  be 
flayed  alive.  Gourdon's  children  fled  to  Scotland,  and  be 
came,  it  is  said,  the  founders  of  the  illustrious  family  of  the 
Gordons.  Richard  died  on  the  6th  of  April,  1199.  Scarcely 


CHAP.  VIIL]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  203 

had  he  breathed  his  last,  when  his  sister  Joanna,  whom  he 
had  married  to  the  Count  of  Toulouse,  arrived  at  the  camp 
before  Chalus,  to  solicit  help  for  her  husband  in  his  dispute 
with  the  court  of  Rome,  in  the  matter  of  the  Albigenses. 
She  was  informed  of  the  death  of  her  brother,  and  the  shock 
caused  her  to  give  birth  to  a  child  prematurely.  The  child 
was  stillborn,  and  the  mother  died  at  its  birth.  She  was 
buried  with  her  brother  at  Fontevrault,  at  the  foot  of  the 
grave  of  Henry  II. 

The  period  of  chivalric  enterprises  in  England  had  gone 
by,  and  that  of  humiliation  and  decay  was  commencing.  The 
reign,  however,  of  John  Lackland,  the  most  cowardly  and 
treacherous  of  the  sovereigns  who  have  sat  on  the  throne  of 
England,  is  one  of  the  most  important  epochs  in  history,  for 
from  that  time  dates  the  active  part  played  by  the  nation  in 
its  own  affairs  —  the  time  of  Magna  Charta,  the  germ  and 
foundation  of  all  English  liberty. 

John  was  well  known  by  the  people  whom  he  aspired  to 
govern,  and  was  universally  detested.  Scarcely  had  the  rumor 
of  the  death  of  King  Richard  spread  through  France,  when 
all  the  nobility  of  Brittany,  Touraine,  Anjou,  and  Maine  de 
clared  themselves  in  favor  of  Prince  Arthur,  son  of  Geoffrey 
Plantagenet  and  of  Constance  of  Brittany,  born  seven  months 
after  his  father's  death,  whom  Richard  had  repeatedly  nom 
inated  as  his  successor.  Under  the  influence  of  Eleanor, 
Aquitaine  and  Poitou  recognized  John  as  their  liege-lord ;  he 
was  in  Normandy,  and  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  at 
Rouen  on  the  25th  of  April.  He  had  already  sent  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury  back  to  England,  to  bring  together  all 
the  barons,  and  to  make  them  swear  allegiance  to  John, 
Duke  of  Normandy,  son  of  King  Henry,  son  of  the  Empress 
Matilda.  The  repugnance  felt  towards  him  was  very  gen 
eral,  but  the  fear  of  anarchy  decided  several  noblemen  in 


204  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

favor  of  John  ;  promises  and  presents  influenced  others,  and 
on  the  25th  of  May,  1199,  when  John  arrived  in  England, 
the  greater  number  of  the  barons  had  become  reconciled  to 
his  cause.  The  new  king  was  crowned  on  the  27th  of  May 
at  Westminster,  the  primate  proclaiming  aloud  that  the  crown 
of  England  was  not  an  inheritance  descending  by  right  of 
primogeniture,  but  that  it  belonged  to  the  worthiest  claimant. 
The  worthiest  claimant  on  this  occasion  was  Prince  John. 

There  had  been  no  question  raised  about  the  rights  of 
Arthur ;  but  Philip  Augustus  was  too  shrewd  not  to  seize 
this  pretext  for  renewing  the  war  against  John,  whom  he 
knew  to  be  a  coward,  a  sluggard,  and  a  sovereign  unpop 
ular  in  his  kingdom ;  he  claimed,  therefore,  in  the  name  of 
the  young  prince,  whose  mother  had  placed  him  under  the 
royal  protection,  nearly  all  King  John's  continental  domains. 
Hostilities  recommenced,  and  Brittany  was  ravaged  both  by 
its  enemies  and  friends.  But  the  King  of  France  was  engaged 
in  a  serious  dispute  with  the  Pope ;  his  kingdom  had  just 
been  placed  under  an  interdict  ;  he  concluded  peace  with 
John,  sacrificing,  without  remorse,  the  interests  of  Arthur, 
who  found  himself  completely  disinherited  through  the  mutual 
understanding  between  his  uncle  and  the  King  of  France. 

Meanwhile  John  had  started  out  for  Aquitaine,  there  to 
receive  the  homage  of  his  subjects.  He  met,  at  one  of  the 
fetes  which  were  celebrated,  Isabel,  daughter  of  the  Count 
of  Angouleme  and  wife  of  the  Count  of  Marche  ;  she  was 
remarkably  beautiful,  and  as  ambitious  as  she  was  beautiful. 
Her  beauty  attracted  the  king,  and  the  ambition  of  the  coun 
tess  prompting  her,  she  abandoned  her  husband  to  marry  John 
Lackland,  who  himself  had  been  married  for  ten  years  to 
the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester.  An  insurrection  soon 
broke  out  in  Aquitaine ;  it  was  insignificant  at  first,  but  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1202  Philip  Augustus,  delivered 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHART  A.  205 

from  his  quarrels  with  Pope  Innocent  III.,  stirred  the  flame 
of  the  rebellion  in  the  southern  provinces,  organized  an  insur 
rection  in  Brittany,  and  suddenly  took  up  Arthur's  cause 
again,  who  had  recently  lost  his  mother.  "  You  are  aware 
of  your  rights,"  he  said  to  the  young  prince  ;  "  do  you  wish 
to  become  king?"  "  Decidedly  I  do,"  said  Arthur.  "Very 
well,  then,"  said  Philip ;  "  there  are  two  hundred  knights, 
take  them  and  march  against  your  own  provinces  whilst  I 
enter  into  Normandy."  The  Bretons  rallied  round  their  }^oung 
duke,  who  advanced  with  his  little  army  against  the  town 
of  Mirebeau  in  Poitou,  where  his  grandmother  Eleanor  was 
staying,  whom  his  mother  had  taught  him  to  hate.  He  hoped, 
by  capturing  her,  to  obtain  better  conditions  from  his  uncle ; 
but  the  old  queen  defended  herself  valiantly,  and  held  the 
castle  sufficiently  long  to  allow  her  son  to  come  to  her  assist 
ance.  A  nobleman  of  the  country  delivered  up  the  town 
to  him  on  the  night  of  the  31st  of  July,  1202,  on  King  John's 
promising  not  to  do  any  harm  to  his  nephew.  All  the  noble 
men  who  supported  the  young  duke,  among  whom  was  the 
Count  of  Marche,  were  made  prisoners,  and  Prince  Arthur 
himself  was  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  Falaise,  whence  he 
was  transported  a  short  time  afterwards  to  Rouen.  Accord 
ing  to  tradition  the  king  ordered  his  eyes  put  out ;  but  the 
earnest  pleadings  of  the  child  induced  the  jailor  to  spare  them. 
The  most  probable  story  relates  that  the  king  arrived  by 
night  with  his  esquire,  Peter  of  Maulac,  to  see  the  unfortunate 
young  prince  in  his  dungeon,  and  that  he  took  the  latter 
with  him  in  a  little  boat  upon  the  Seine.  The  young  man 
was  in  fear,  and  begged  his  uncle  to  spare  his  life  ;  but  John 
made  a  sign,  and  De  Maulac,  after  plunging  his  dagger  into 
the  prisoner's  heart,  threw  his  body  overboard ;  but  it  is 
also  said  that  De  Maulac  conceived  a  horror  of  the  crime 
beforehand,  and  refused  to  commit  it,  and  that  the  king  him- 


206'  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

self  struck  the  fatal  blow.  It  was  on  the  3d  of  April,  1203. 
Rumors  of  the  murder  spread  throughout  France  and  England, 
adding  fresh  indignation  to  the  hatred  which  John  already 
inspired.  The  Bretons  proclaimed  Alice  of  Thouars,  daughter 
of  the  Duchess  Constance  by  her  third  husband,  instead  of 
Prince  Arthur's  sister,  Eleanor,  the  Pearl  of  Brittany,  who 
was  in  the  power  of  her  uncle,  and  was  shut  up  by  him  in 
a  convent  at  Bristol.  The  appeal  of  the  Bretons  to  the  liege- 
lord  was  listened  to  by  Philip  Augustus  ;  he  summoned  John, 
Duke  of  Normandy,  to  appear  in  Paris  to  be  judged  by  his 
peers.  Queen  Eleanor  had  retired  to  Fontevraud,  where  she 
had  taken  the  veil,  overcome,  it  is  said,  with  despair  in  conse 
quence  of  her  son's  crime. 

John  had  not  answered  Philip's  summons  :  he  was  at  Rouen 
occupied  with  the  festivities,  while  the  King  of  France  was 
entering  Poitou,  supported  by  the  nobility,  who  had  generally 
revolted  in  his  favor,  and  was  marching  from  thence  into 
Normandy  ;  the  Bretons  had  commenced  the  attack,  and  were 
advancing,  pillaging  the  country.  Many  Normans  joined  them, 
so  great  was  the  horror  inspired  by  the  murder  of  Prince 
Arthur.  The  people  had  also  organized  an  insurrection  in 
Anjou  and  Maine,  and  Philip  had  taken  possession  of  all  the 
towns  on  his  way  when  he  effected  a  junction  with  the 
Bretons  at  Caen.  "  Let  them  go  where  they  please,"  John 
would  say,  in  the  midst  of  his  revels  ;  "  I  will  take  back  in 
one  day  all  that  they  have  acquired  with  so  much  trouble." 
But  the  French  army  having  appeared  at  Rodepont,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Rouen,  the  King  of  England  fled  in  great 
haste,  and  recrossed  the  Channel  in  the  month  of  December, 
1203,  in  order  to  seek  for  succor. 

The  English  reinforcements  did  not  arrive ;  Rouen  had 
defended  itself  valiantly ;  but  the  citizens  had  at  length 
yielded  in  consequence  of  a  famine  ;  Verneuil  had  just  been 


MURDER  OF    PRINCE   ARTHUR. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  207 

taken.  Castle  Gaillard,  fortified  by  Richard  Coeur-de-Lion, 
capitulated  after  a  siege  of  seven  months;  the  garrison  had 
defended  tower  after  tower ;  there  no  longer  remained  a  single 
French  knight,  when  the  French  soldiers  at  length  destroyed 
the  last  portion  of  the  ramparts.  John  had  not  lifted  a  finger 
to  defend  his  dominions,  and  the  King  of  France  was  regain 
ing  possession  of  his  duchy  of  Normandy,  which  had  been 
separated  from  his  dominions  for  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  years ;  Brittany,  Touraine,  Anjou,  Maine,  and  Poitou 
slipped  from  the  grasp  of  the  King  of  England ;  Aquitaine 
alone  remained  to  him.  King  Philip,  who  was  now  satisfied, 
allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  by  a  legate  sent  by  the  Pope, 
and  concluded  a  truce  of  two  years'  duration  with  King  John, 
which  was  to  commence  in  the  month  of  December,  1206. 

The  arms  of  his  temporal  enemies  had  triumphed.  John 
Lackland  was  about  to  bring  down  upon  himself  the  spiritual 
thunders.  A  conflict  had  arisen  between  the  king  and  the 
chapter  of  Canterbury  about  the  election  of  an  archbishop. 
The  Pope  settled  the  question  by  nominating  Cardinal  Stephen 
Langton,  who  was  then  at  Rome,  and  whose  merit  was  known 
to  the  pontiff.  The  monks  of  Canterbury  recognized  him, 
and  John  caused  them  to  be  driven  from  their  cloisters  by 
two  knights,  sword  in  hand.  The  Pope  instructed  the  three 
bishops  to  pronounce  an  interdict  in  England,  authorizing  at 
the  same  time  the  English  barons,  who  were,  he  knew,  se 
cretly  discontented,  to  aid  him  in  snatching  their  country 
from  ruin.  The  bishops  pronounced  the  terrible  sentence, 
and  at  once  left  King  John's  dominions.  The  barons  did 
not  dare  to  rebel ;  the  king  had  taken  possession  of  a  large 
number  of  children  of  the  noblest  families  as  hostages.  He 
had  sent  Peter  of  Maulac  to  demand  the  sons  of  William  of 
Braose,  Lord  of  Bramber  in  Sussex.  "  By  my  faith,"  said 
the  lady  of  the  castle,  "  he  did  not  take  such  care  of  his 


208  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

nephew  that  I  should  trust  my  children  to  him."  Peter  of 
Maulac  made  prisoners  of  the  lady  and  her  children,  who 
died  of  hunger  in  their  prison.  Lord  Bramber  died  of  grief 
in  consequence. 

The  interdict  had  lasted  one  year ;  the  churches  were  closed. 
No  more  bell-ringing,  no  religious  services,  no  marriages,  no 
prayers  over  the  graves  ;  the  baptism  of  newly-born  children 
and  the  administration  of  extreme  unction  were  the  only 
concessions  made  by  the  Church.  In  1209,  the  Pope  sent 
a  bull  of  excommunication  against  the  king ;  the  blow  was 
foreseen,  and  the  approaches  were  so  zealously  guarded  that 
the  papal  missive  could  not  gain  admission  ;  but  John  knew 
that  a  sentence  of  deposition  would  follow  that  of  excommu 
nication  ;  and  this  proceeding,  although  unproductive  of  prac 
tical  results  in  itself,  assumed  a  terrible  degree  of  importance 
when  it  was  known  that  King  Philip  Augustus  was  ready  to 
carry  it  into  execution.  It  is  related  that  at  this  time  John, 
in  despair  at  his  struggle  against  the  Church,  conceived  the 
idea  of  begging  the  assistance  of  the  Mussulmans,  and  that 
he  sent  an  embassy  to  the  Emir  El-Hassiz  in  Spain,  propos 
ing  to  embrace  the  religion  of  Islamism  and  to  become  the 
vassal  of  the  emir,  if  the  latter  would  cross  the  Pyrenees, 
enter  into  France,  and  thus  draw  off  the  forces  of  King 
Philip.  The  emir  listened  gravely,  only  giving  vague  answers. 
When  the  emissaries  had  retired,  the  Mussulman  called  back 
one  of  them,  a  priest.  "  Tell  me,"  he  asked  him,  "  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  from  whom  you  expect  your  salvation, 
what  kind  of  man  your  king  really  is."  "  He  is  a  tyrant 
who  will  soon  feel  the  effects  of  his  subjects'  anger,"  replied 
the  monk;  and  the  emir  refused  all  King  John's  offers. 

In  spite  of  the  Pope's  discontent  and  John's  terror  thereat, 
the  latter  had  carried  on  successfully  some  expeditions  against 
the  insurgents  in  Ireland  and  Wales,  when,  in  1213,  Inno- 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  209 

cent  III.  at  length  proclaimed  his  deposition,  absolving  all 
his  vassals  from  their  oath  of  allegiance,  and  making  an  appeal 
to  all  Christian  princes  to  dethrone  an  impious  tyrant.  Ste 
phen  Langton  was  sent  to  King  Philip  to  promise  forgive 
ness  of  all  the  latter's  sins  if  he  would  carry  out  the  sen 
tence  of  the  Holy  See.  The  French  army  was  already  being 
formed.  King  John  had  obtained  a  signal  success  over  his 
adversary's  fleet,  and  he  was  at  Dover,  surrounded  by  an 
army  of  sixty  thousand  men  ready  to  encounter  the  invaders 
if  their  sovereign  would  lead  them;  but  John  was  afraid  of 
his  subjects,  mistrusting  their  fidelity ;  and  he  shrank  as  usual 
from  giving  battle  to  the  enemy.  The  Pope's  legate,  Pan- 
dulph,  came  and  met  him  at  Dover.  He  represented  to  the 
king  in  the  most  terrible  colors  the  strength  of  the  French 
army,  the  discontent  of  the  barons,  and  the  anger  of  the 
exiles ;  the  little  courage  that  remained  to  the  degenerate 
Plantagenet  faded  away  from  his  heart.  He  was,  besides, 
pursued  by  the  recollection  of  a  prediction  of  Peter  the  Her 
mit  of  "Wakefield,  which  ran :  "  Before  the  day  of  the  Ascen 
sion  the  king  will  have  lost  his  crown."  John  resolved  rather 
to  drag  it  through  the  mire  than  to  relax  his  hold  of  it. 

The  legate  was  a  skilful  diplomatist ;  before  making  public 
the  result  of  his  negotiations  with  the  king,  he  demanded  that 
all  the  exiled  priests  should  be  allowed  to  return  with  Lang- 
ton  at  their  head ;  and  he  also  exacted  an  assurance  that  the 
clergy  and  laity  would  be  indemnified  for  the  losses  which 
they  had  sustained  through  the  interdict.  The  king  signed 
this  agreement  on  the  13th  of  May,  1213,  and  four  barons 
affixed  their  seals  to  it.  On  the  14th  John  was  engaged  all 
day  in  private  conference  with  the  legate. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  May  the  king  rose  early 
and  went  to  the  church  of  the  Templars,  at  Dover  ;  a  great 
crowd  had  already  assembled  there,  and  John,  kneeling  and 

VOL.  i.  27 


210  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

clasping  the  hand  of  the  legate  in  his  own,  swore  in  a  loud 
clear  voice  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Holy  See.  At  the 
same  time  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  pontiff's  ambassador 
a  document  declaring  that  he,  John,  King  of  England  and 
Ireland,  in  expiation  of  his  sins  against  God  and  the  Holy 
Church,  without  being  constrained  thereto  by  force,  or  by  the 
fear  of  the  interdict,  but  of  his  own  free  will  and  with  the 
consent  of  his  barons,  ceded  "to  the  Holy  Pope  Innocent  and 
to  his  heirs  and  successors  for  ever,  the  kingdom  of  England 
and  dependency  of  Ireland,  to  be  held  by  himself,  John,  and 
by  his  successors  as  a  fief  of  the  Holy  Church,  by  paying  an 
annual  sum  of  a  thousand  marks  of  silver.  At  the  same 
time  the  king  offered  a  purse  as  an  earnest  of  his  submission. 
Pandulph  threw  it  on  the  ground,  trampling  the  money  dis 
dainfully  under  foot;  but  he  accepted  the  crown  which  John 
had  relinquished,  and  for  five  days  it  remained  in  his  keep 
ing.  The  Feast  of  the  Ascension  had  passed ;  the  king  caused 
the  Hermit  of  Wakefield  to  be  tied  to  the  tail  of  an  untamed 
horse,  as  a  punishment  for  his  predictions ;  but  the  people 
maintained  that  Peter  had  not  been  mistaken,  because  King 
John  himself  gave  up  his  crown. 

Scarcely  had  the  legate  accomplished  his  mission  in  Eng 
land,  when  he  recrossed  the  sea  to  Philip's  camp  at  Boulogne, 
announcing  to  the  latter  that  the  states  of  his  enemy  would 
for  the  future  form  part  of  the  dominions  of  St.  Peter,  and 
that  the  King  of  France  no  longer  had  permission  to  invade 
them.  "  But,"  said  Philip,  "  I  have  spent  enormous  sums 
of  money  in  the  preparations  for  war  at  the  Pope's  bidding, 
and  on  his  having  granted  remission  of  my  sins."  He  re 
solved  to  carry  on  the  expedition,  and  was  preparing  to  set 
sail,  when  a  quarrel  with  the  Count  of  Flanders  caused  him 
to  turn  his  arms  in  that  direction ;  the  English  fleet  came 
to  the  assistance  of  the  count,  and  gained  a  brilliant  victory 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  211 

over  the  vessels  of  Philip,  who,  finding  himself  deprived  of 
the  means  of  transport  and  revictualling,  was  obliged  to  re 
nounce,  for  the  time  being,  his  expedition  against  England. 

John  had  called  all  his  subjects  to  arms;  but  when  the 
barons  met  him  at  Portsmouth  they  refused  to  embark  in  the 
ships  until  the  king  had  allowed  the  exiles  whom  he  had 
called  back  to  re-enter  the  country.  Langton  was  hateful 
in  the  eyes  of  John,  who  looked  upon  him  as  the  cause  of 
the  first  dispute  with  Rome;  but  he  was  obliged  to  yield, 
and  the  archbishop  and  the  monks  of  Canterbury  once  more 
set  foot  on  English  soil ;  the  kiss  of  peace  was  exchanged, 
and  John  embarked,  reckoning  on  the  support  of  the  barons. 
He  arrived  at  Jersey,  but  the  noblemen  had  not  followed 
him,  pleading  that  the  period  of  their  service  was  at  an  end, 
and  they  met  at  St.  Alban's  under  the  presidency  of  Chief- 
Justicier  Fitz-Piers,  a  man  of  low  origin,  whose  marriage  with 
the  Countess  of  Essex  had  placed  him  in  a  position  which 
he  maintained  by  reason  of  his  ability.  They  had  already 
published  a  series  of  royal  declarations  demanding  the  observ 
ance  of  the  old  laws,  when  John,  furious  at  the  desertion  of 
his  vassals,  returned,  pillaging  and  burning  down  everything 
on  his  way.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  came  to  him. 
"  You  are  not  fulfilling  your  oath,  Sire,"  said  he ;  "  your  vas 
sals  should  be  judged  by  their  peers,  and  not  coerced  by 
arms."  "  Pay  attention  to  your  church,"  cried  the  king, 
angrily,  "  and  leave  me  to  govern  the  kingdom."  Langton 
threatened  to  excommunicate  all  the  agents  of  the  royal  ven 
geance,  and  John  ended  by  summoning  the  barons  to  appear 
before  him. 

Langton,  on  the  other  hand,  had  convoked  them  at  London. 
When  the  king  entered  the  audience- chamber,  the  cardinal 
held  in  his  hand  a  parchment  document.  It  was  the  charter 
of  King  Henry  I. ;  this  was  neither  the  first  nor  the  last 


212  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIH. 

charter  which  England  received  since  the  Conquest.  William 
the  Conqueror,  in  1071,  had  guaranteed  to  his  barons,  by  a 
charter,  the  performance  of  a  contract  entered  into  between 
them,  promising  to  reform  the  abuses  which  had  been  pointed 
out  to  him,  and  securing  to  the  Saxons  the  maintenance  of 
the  laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  In  1101,  King  Henry  I. 
had  lately  been  proclaimed  King  of  England  ;  the  Duke  Robert 
was  claiming  the  throne  by  virtue  of  his  seniority.  In  order 
to  secure  the  support  of  the  Norman,  as  well  as  the  Saxon 
barons,  Henry  had  convoked  in  London  a  general  assembly, 
and  signed  a  fresh  charter  almost  similar  to  his  brother's. 
It  was  this  document  which  Archbishop  Langton  had  found, 
and  which  he  was  bringing  to  the  barons  assembled  in  Lon 
don  like  their  ancestors,  not,  as  of  old,  to  receive  a  charter, 
but  to  force  one  upon  the  king. 

King  Stephen  had  also  made  the  same  promises,  endowing 
the  Church  likewise  with  a  charter  setting  forth  its  rights. 
Finally,  Henry  II. ,  in  1154,  had  renewed  the  charters  of  King 
Stephen,  and  had  caused  a  copy  of  the  document  to  be  de 
posited  in  all  the  churches  ;  there  is  one  of  them  remaining 
now.  Cc3ur-de-Lion  did  not  sign  any  charter,  but  that  of  John 
Lackland  was  destined  to  be  glorious  and  powerful  for  ever 
afterwards  under  the  title  of  Magna  Charta.  The  barons 
swore  to  observe  the  injunctions  of  Henry  I.'s  charter,  which 
had  been  presented  to  them  by  Langton,  to  remain  faithful 
to  one  another,  and  to  secure  their  liberties  or  to  die  defend 
ing  them.  This  was  on  the  25th  of  August,  1213. 

The  Pope  had  abandoned  the  cause  of  English  liberty  on 
receiving  homage  from  King  John ;  the  interdict  had  been 
raised,  and  the  hostile  forces  of  King  Philip  were  gathering 
in  all  directions.  The  Emperor  of  Germany,  the  Count  of 
Flanders,  and  the  Count  of  Boulogne  called  the  King  of  Eng 
land  to  their  aid.  John  sent  William  Longsword,  Earl  of 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHART  A.  213 

Salisbury,  his  half-brother,  to  the  camp  of  the  allies,  and 
marched  in  person  against  Brittany ;  but  he  did  not  come  to 
blows  with  the  heir  to  the  throne  of  France,  Prince  Louis, 
who  had  been  sent  forward  by  his  father,  on  the  27th  of 
July,  while  the  latter  was  waging  war  against  the  confeder 
ates  at  Bouvines.  On  the  19th  of  October,  John  signed  a 
five  years'  truce,  and  returned  to  England  furious,  humiliated, 
and  resolved  to  revenge  himself  upon  his  English  subjects 
for  all  the  reverses  of  fortune  which  he  had  suffered  on  the 
Continent.  Fitz-Piers,  whom  John  feared  and  detested,  was 
dead.  The  king  burst  into  laughter  on  learning  this  news. 
"  God's  teeth !  "  he  cried,  "  this  is  the  first  time  that  I  have 
felt  myself  king  and  sovereign  of  England."  But  Langton 
was  the  real  chief  of  the  conspiracy ;  the  support  which  the 
Pope  lent  to  King  John  had  not  for  a  single  moment  shaken 
the  fidelity  of  the  archbishop  to  the  cause  of  the  barons :  they 
again  met,  on  the  20th  of  November,  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
and,  placing  their  hands  upon  the  altar,  they  swore,  one 
after  another,  that  if  the  king  refused  to  grant  the  just  rights 
which  they  claimed,  they  would  withhold  their  allegiance, 
and  wage  war  against  him  until  he  should  have  granted  their 
demands  by  a  charter  sealed  with  the  royal  seal. 

Christmas-day  arrived  ;  the  king  found  himself  alone  at  Wor 
cester,  his  barons  not  having  presented  themselves  to  do 
homage  to  him.  John  retired  in  great  haste  to  London,  and 
took  refuge  in  the  fortress  of  the  Templars.  The  barons 
followed  him  there,  this  time  in  larger  numbers  than  he  cared 
for,  and  on  the  day  of  the  Epiphany  they  haughtily  presented 
their  requests  to  him.  John  eyed  the  faces  which  surrounded 
him,  and  which  bore  an  inflexible  and  resolute  expression, 
both  in  the  case  of  the  priests  and  the  warriors.  He  turned 
pale.  "  Give  me  until  Easter  to  reflect  upon  all  this,"  he 
said.  Before  consenting,  the  barons  stipulated  that  Cardinal 


214  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

Langton,  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  and  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  should 
become  sureties  that  the  king  would  satisfy  their  claims  upon 
the  day  mentioned  by  him.  They  knew  the  value  of  John 
Lackland's  promises.  Scarcely  had  they  left,  when  he  threw 
himself  under  the  protection  of  the  Church,  renouncing  all 
the  prerogatives  of  the  throne  in  the  choice  of  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries,  and  begging  the  assistance  of  the  Pope,  who 
wrote  to  Langton,  but  with  no  result.  At  length  John  for 
mally  assumed  the  cross,  on  the  2d  of  February,  hoping  thus 
to  avoid  fulfilling  his  promises  to  the  English  barons.  He 
did  not  yet  fully  understand  his  subjects. 

On  Easter-day  the  confederates  had  met  together  in  large 
numbers  at  Stamford ;  they  sent  a  deputation  to  the  kieg, 
who  was  at  Oxford.  When  Langton  read  aloud  the  claims 
of  the  barons,  John  angrily  exclaimed,  "  And  why  do  they 
not  also  ask  for  my  crown  ?  By  God's  teeth !  I  will  not 
grant  liberties  which  would  make  a  slave  of  me."  The  Pope's 
legate,  who  was  there,  maintained  that  Langton  ought  to 
excommunicate  the  confederates.  "  The  intentions  of  the 
Holy  Father  have  been  misunderstood,"  said  the  archbishop, 
calmly ;  "  if  the  mercenary  followers  of  the  king  do  not 
soon  leave  the  kingdom,  whose  ruin  they  are  accomplishing, 
it  is  they  whom  I  will  excommunicate."  The  barons  then 
styled  themselves  the  Army  of  God  and  of  the  Holy  Church, 
and,  placing  Robert  Fitz- Walter  at  their  head,  they  inarched 
against  Northampton  Castle.  The  resistance  there  was  so 
actively  carried  on  that  the  siege  had  to  be  raised,  and  the 
barons  advanced  towards  Bedford.  The  position  of  affairs 
at  this  time  was  critical,  and  it  was  imperatively  necessary  to 
know  whether  the  citizens  of  the  towns  would  support  the 
noble  insurrectionists.  Bedford  opened  its  gates,  and  the  con 
federates  took  the  road  to  London  ;  they  arrived  there  on 
the  morning  of  the  24th  of  May.  The  people  received  them 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  215 

joyfully,  and  good  order  was  maintained  in  the  Army  of  the 
Holy  Church.  The  barons  issued  a  proclamation,  calling  under 
their  banners  all  the  knights  who  had  hitherto  remained  aloof 
from  the  contest.  The  king  found  himself  unsupported,  all 
the  nobility  of  the  kingdom  having  risen  against  him.  He 
yielded  therefore,  at  least  for  a  time,  to  urgent  necessity  ;  he 
sent  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  to  the  barons  assembled  in  London 
to  assure  them  that  he  was  quite  ready  to  grant  the  privileges 
and  liberties  which  they  claimed,  and  asking  on  what  day 
and  at  what  place  they  would  arrange  matters  with  him. 
"  On  the  15th  of  June,  at  Runnymede,"  replied  the  barons. 

On  the  15th  of  June  all  the  noblemen  of  England  were 
there.  "It  is  not  necessary  to  name  them,"  says  the  chron 
icle,  "  for  they  consisted  of  all  the  nobility  of  the  country." 
Fitz-Walter  was  at  their  head ;  the  king  was  accompanied 
by  the  legate,  by  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Templars,  by  eight 
bishops  brought  by  Langton,  and  by  twelve  barons,  of  whom 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  was  the  chief.  The  king's  followers, 
with  the  exception  of  the  legate  and  the  Templar,  were  as 
devoted  to  the  liberties  of  England  as  the  confederate  noble 
men. 

John  did  not  put  in  any  claim  or  make  any  objection. 
With  an  amount  of  alacrity,  which  must  have  appeared  sus- 
pic^ous  to  far-seeing  observers,  he  signed  the  charter  which 
was  presented  to  him,  and  the  great  seal  was  affixed  to  it. 
The  first  real  token  of  English  liberty  had  been  acquired  ; 
the  first  stone  of  the  noble  edifice  of  the  Constitution  was 
laid ;  the  conditions  were  well  defined ;  and  the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  clergy,  as  well  as  those  of  the  feudal  nobility, 
and  of  the  merchants  and  citizens  who  had  supported  the 
barons  in  their  enterprise,  were  carefully  provided  for.  Effect 
ual  guaranties  were  secured ;  the  necessity  for  causing  persons 
who  were  arrested  or  punished  to  be  tried  first  of  all  in  a 


216  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

court  of  justice,  the  establishment  of  regular  assizes,  the  main 
tenance  of  the  integrity  of  justice,  all  formed  part  of  the 
fundamental  rights  claimed  by  the  barons;  who  also  required 
the  disbanding  of  the  mercenary  troops,  and  the  formation 
of  a  committee  of  twenty-five  members  intrusted  with  the 
task  of  seeing  to  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  clauses  of  the  com 
pacts,  the  non-fulfilment  of  which  gave  the  barons  the  right 
of  waging  war  with  the  king  until  their  grievances  should 
be  completely  redressed.  During  two  months  the  barons  were 
to  retain  possession  of  the  city  of  London. 

All  these  precautions  were  powerless,  however,  against 
treachery.  Scarcely  had  the  triumphant  confederates  left  Run- 
nymede,  when  King  John  flew  into  a  terrible  passion,  rolling 
on  the  ground,  and  cursing  the  traitors  who  had  dared  to 
reduce  him  to  slavery..  The  mercenary  troops,  whom  he  was 
obliged,  according  to  Magna  Charta,  to  disband,  encouraged 
him  in  his  anger  and  his  plans  for  revenge ;  John  called 
fresh  reinforcements  to  his  aid.  After  the  treaties  had  been 
violated,  war  broke  out ;  the  barons  prepared  for  it.  A  tour 
nament,  which  had  been  announced,  was  decided  to  be  held 
nearer  to  London,  and  several  gatherings  had  already  taken 
place,  when  the  thunderbolt  which  John  had  invoked  fell 
upon  the  heads  of  the  English  nobility.  The  Pope  declared 
Magna  Charta  to  be  void,  holding  that  it  was  illegitimate, 
having  been  obtained  by  force;  and  he  commanded  Langton 
to  dissolve  any  confederation  under  pain  of  being  excommu 
nicated.  The  archbishop  set  out  for  Rome,  in  order  to  obtain 
a  revocation  of  this  sentence,  and  the  war  commenced  in 
England  with  the  siege  of  Rochester.  The  place  was  defended 
by  D' Albiney,  a  member  of  the  council  of  the  twenty-five ; 
after  a  resistance,  which  lasted  during  two  months,  the  gar 
rison  having  come  to  the  end  of  their  resources,  at  length 
opened  the  gates.  John  desired  to  hang  the  brave  defenders 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGXA   CHARTA.  217 

of  the  town ;  the  chief  of  his  free  bands,  Sauvery  of  Mau- 
leon,  surnamed  the  Bloody,  opposed  his  determination.  "  The 
war  is  only  beginning,  Sire,"  said  he;  "if  you  commence  by 
hanging  your  barons,  your  barons  will  end  by  hanging  us." 
The  knights'  lives  were  spared,  and  the  men-at-arms  only 
were  executed. 

Langton  had  failed  in  his  mission  at  Rome,  and  had  been 
deposed  from  his  see  ;  the  barons  were  excommunicated,  and 
the  city  of  London  placed  under  an  interdict,  but  the  con 
federates  took  no  notice  of  the  two  sentences.  "  The  Pope 
had  been  misguided,"  they  said,  "  and  had  meddled  in  the 
temporal  affairs  of  England,  which  do  not  concern  him,  as 
the  spiritual  domain  alone  belongs  to  St.  Peter  and  his  suc 
cessors." 

John,  however,  had  become  possessed  of  two  large  armies 
of  mercenary  troops  of  Brabantines  and  of  free-lances,  who 
willingly  executed  the  sanguinary  orders  of  their  chief:  one 
corps  was  sent  to  pursue  their  work  of  ravaging  the  counties 
of  the  East  and  the  Centre ;  the  other  marched  towards  the 
North  under  the  command  of  the  king,  repulsed  into  Scot 
land  the  young  King  Alexander,  who  had  crossed  the  frontier 
to  lend  his  aid  to  the  barons,  and  burned  down  and  desolated 
the  buildings  in  York,  Northumberland,  and  Cumberland. 
Everywhere  the  barons,  in  retiring,  would  lay  waste  their 
houses  and  fields ;  everywhere  the  king  burned  down  what 
ever  he  found  standing ;  but  he  was  still  advancing,  while 
the  confederates  were  retreating.  They  at  length  found  them 
selves  shut  up  in  the  city  of  London ;  all  their  castles  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  tyrant,  who  had  made  a  present 
of  them  to  his  followers,  —  to  Satan's  guards,  as  the  people 
called  them.  The  families  of  the  confederates  were  at  the 
mercy  of  King  John  ;  the  barons  resolved  upon  their  course 
of  action,  a  bitter  one,  that  of  seeking  aid  abroad,  and  accord- 

VOL.  I.  28 


218  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

ingly  sent  a  deputation  to  Philip  Augustus,  proposing  to  give 
the  crown  of  England  to  his  son,  Prince  Louis,  if  he  would 
come  to  their  help  with  an  army.  His  arrival,  it  was  thought, 
would  immediately  thin  the  ranks  of  King  John's  supporters, 
for  they  were  mostly  Frenchmen,  and  would  be  unwilling 
to  fight  against  their  own  countrymen. 

Philip  Augustus  only  wanted  a  pretext  to  meddle  in  the 
affairs  of  England.  He  agreed  to  the  proposal  of  the  barons, 
not,  however,  without  requiring  hostages  as  a  guaranty  of 
good  faith  ;  and  in  spite  of  threats  from  the  Pope,  who  for 
bade  either  the  father  or  the  son  to  invade  a  fief  of  the 
Holy  Church,  Prince  Louis  set  sail  in  the  month  of  July 
with  a  large  army,  raised  chiefly  through  the  personal  efforts 
of  his  wife,  Blanche  of  Castile,  a  niece  of  King  John,  in 
whose  name  Louis  put  forth  his  claim  to  the  crown  of  Eng 
land.  John's  fears  did  not  wait  for  the  landing  of  the  French 
troops ;  he  had  left  Dover,  and  had  repaired  to  Bristol,  where 
the  legate  awaited  him.  Prince  Louis  landed  at  Sandwich, 
and,  almost  without  striking  a  blow,  he  marched  to  London, 
which  city  he  entered  on  the  2d  of  June,  1216.  The  entire 
population  came  to  meet  him,  and,  after  having  offered  up  a 
prayer  to  St.  Paul,  he  received  homage  from  the  barons  and 
citizens,  promising  to  govern  them  according  to  their  laws, 
to  protect  their  rights,  and  to  restore  their  property  to  them, 
The  satisfaction  was  universal :  the  counties  surrounding  Lon 
don  submitted  willingly  to  Prince  Louis ;  the  oppressed  inhab 
itants  of  the  North  revolted.  A  large  number  of  John's  mer 
cenary  troops  deserted  him,  to  return  to  their  homes,  or  to 
rally  round  the  standard  of  France ;  the  nobility  who  had 
become  reconciled  to  the  king,  in  the  presence  of  the  reverses 
sustained  by  the  national  cause,  abandoned  him  to  join  their 
old  friends ;  and,  lastly,  Pope  Innocent  III.  was  just  dead 
(16th  July),  and  hence  the  powerful  support  of  Rome  was 


CHAP.  VIII.]  MAGNA   CHARTA.  219 

taken  from   him.     John   had   only  the  fortresses   defended  by 
his  partisans  remaining  to   him. 

Meanwhile  Prince  Louis  was  stopped  at  Dover  Castle,  and 
the  English  barons  at  Windsor  Castle.  In  vain  did  they 
attack  the  massive  walls  with  a  machine  which  came  from 
France,  and  which  was  called  the  "  Malvoisine."  Hubert  de 
Burgh  held  his  ground  firmly  at  Dover,  and  the  siege  of 
Windsor  had  been  raised.  The  confederates  had  hoped  to 
surprise  the  king  at  Cambridge ;  but  John  had  eluded  them, 
and  had  proceeded  to  Lincoln,  of  which  city  he  took  posses 
sion.  The  prospects  of  the  confederation  were  not  flourish 
ing ;  the  reinforcements,  which  had  been  sent  from  France, 
were  checked  by  the  English  sailors  who  remained  faithful 
to  King  John.  Prince  Louis  displayed  little  activity,  and 
treated  his  English  allies  in  a  haughty  manner.  He  had 
already  presented  several  estates  to  the  noblemen  who  had 
accompanied  him  from  France :  one  of  them,  the  Viscount 
of  Melun,  was  dead;  and  he  had,  it  was  said,  confessed, 
when  dying,  that  the  intention  of  the  French  people,  when 
their  prince  should  be  on  the  throne,  was  to  treat  the  Eng 
lish  like  men  who  had  shown  themselves  untrustworthy  by 
reason  of  their  treachery  to  their  sovereign.  Distrust  and 
discord  had  entered  into  the  allied  camps ;  several  barons 
opened  negotiations  with  King  John.  The  latter's  position 
was  ameliorating  ;  he  had  just  left  Wisbeach,  and  desired  to 
proceed  to  Cross-Keys,  on  the  south  of  the  Wash,  when,  on 
arriving  at  the  ford,  he  beheld  the  rising  tide  suddenly  ingulf 
the  long  line  of  wagons  which  were  carrying  his  luggage, 
his  treasures,  and  his  provisions.  The  troops  had  already 
crossed  the  river,  and  were  in  safety,  but  the  king  became 
furious  at  witnessing  such  an  irreparable  loss ;  he  arrived, 
exhausted  with  rage,  at  the  convent  of  the  Cistercian  monks 
at  Swineshead.  No  event,  however  dreadful,  troubled  King 


220  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  VIII. 

John  while  at  table  ;  he  ate  some  peaches  and  drank  some 
new  ale  —  so  immoderately,  in  fact,  that  he  fell  ill  on  the 
morrow,  and,  thinking  that  he  was  poisoned  by  the  monks, 
lie  caused  himself  to  be  taken  to  Newark.  Death,  the  only 
enemy  that  John  could  not  escape  from,  awaited  him  there. 
He  sent  for  a  priest,  nominated  his  son  Henry  as  his  suc 
cessor,  and  dictated  a  letter  to  the  new  Pope,  Honorius,  to 
recommend  his  children  to  the  care  of  the  Holy  Church. 
The  remembrance  of  his  crimes  did  not  seem  to  trouble  him 
on  his  death-bed  ;  perhaps  he  held  himself  absolved  from  all 
his  sins  by  his  allegiance  to  the  Holy  See.  "  I  commit  my 
soul  to  God  and  my  body  to  St.  Wulstan,"  he  said.  He  then 
expired  on  the  18th  of  October,  1216.  He  was  buried  at 
Worcester,  in  the  church  of  St.  Wulstan.  Death  had  at  length 
delivered  England  of  the  cowardly  and  faithless  tyrant  whom 
she  had  for  a  long  while  submitted  to,  then  vanquished,  and 
against  whom  the  country  was  still  struggling  in  defence  of 
Magna  Charta,  which,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  six  centu 
ries,  remains  the  basis  of  English  liberties. 


CHAP.  IX.]      KING   AND    BARONS.  —  HENRY  HI.  221 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

KING    AND    BARONS.  —  HENRY    III.     1216-1272. 

KING  JOHN  was  buried  when  his  young  son  was  crowned 
at  Gloucester,  on  the  28th  of  October,  1216,  by  the 
Pope's  legate.  He  was  ten  years  of  age  at  the  time,  and  his 
feeble  hands  confirmed  without  resistance  the  gift  which  his 
father  had  made  to  Rome  of  the  kingdom  of  England.  It 
was  the  vassal  of  the  Church,  who,  in  the  month  of  Novem 
ber,  1216,  was  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke, 
the  most  formidable  of  the  barons  who  had  remained  faithful 
to  King  John,  by  reason  of  his  orderly  and  prudent  character, 
for  he  was  as  devoted  to  the  liberties  of  his  country  as  the 
barons  who  had  mustered  round  the  banner  of  Prince  Louis. 
He  was  nominated  "  Protector  "  of  the  kingdom  and  of  the 
king,  and  his  first  care  was  to  make  a  revision  of  Magna 
Charta :  he  eliminated  the  temporary  articles ;  confirmed  a 
great  number  of  clauses ;  others  remained  pending  until  the 
raising  of  a  more  numerous  army;  and  the  earl  directed  all 
his  efforts  against  the  French  prince  and  his  foreign  adhe 
rents.  The  favors  and  good  graces  of  the  Protector  drew  to 
him  all  the  barons  who  were  deserting  the  French  prince,  and 
they  were  becoming  every  day  more  numerous.  Their  enmity 
had  died  out  at  the  death  of  King  John ;  the  child  who  had 
just  been  crowned  was  their  legitimate  sovereign,  descended 
from  the  kings  whom  they  had  loved  and  served.  Louis  saw 
his  army  rapidly  decreasing ;  thanks  to  the  vigorous  resist 
ance  of  Hubert  de  Burgh,  he  had  been  unable  to  obtain  pos- 


222  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IX. 

session  of  Dover  Castle,  which  he  had  been  besieging  for  some 
time.  In  vain  had  they  endeavored  to  seduce  him  from  his 
duty,  by  urging  that  the  king  to  whom  he  had  sworn  alle 
giance  was  dead.  "  The  king  has  left  children,"  he  answered ; 
and  Louis  raised  the  siege  to  return  to  London,  which  still 
remained  true  to  him.  An  armistice  soon  allowed  him  to 
go  to  France  to  collect  reinforcements;  but,  in  his  absence, 
the  insolence  of  Enguerrand  of  Coucy,  whom  he  had  left  at 
the  head  of  affairs,  was  spreading  discontent,  and  the  forces 
of  the  national  party  sprang  up  so  rapidly  that  the  prince, 
attacked  on  the  sea  by  the  sailors  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  found 
some  difficulty  in  returning  to  England.  An  army  corps 
under  the  command  of  the  Count  of  Perche  was  defeated  by 
the  Protector  in  the  very  streets  of  Lincoln,  and  the  anathe 
mas  of  Rome  began  to  pour  down  upon  Prince  Louis  and  his 
adherents,  who  were  excommunicated  in  a  mass. 

Louis  was  shut  up  in  London,  surrounded  by  his  enemies ; 
he  asked  for  help  from  France,  but  his  father,  Philip  Augustus, 
would  not  become  concerned  in  a  quarrel  with  the  Pope,  and 
did  not  dare  to  act  openly  in  his  son's  favor.  It  was  Louis's 
wife,  Blanche  of  Castile,  who  succeeded  in  raising  considerable 
forces,  which  she  sent  to  him  under  the  care  of  a  chief  of 
adventurers  named  Eustace  the  Monk,  because  he  had  escaped 
from  his  monastery.  The  French  fleet  met  Hubert  de  Burgh 
on  the  high  seas.  The  struggle  began.  Eustace  the  Monk  was 
defeated,  and  was  beheaded  on  the  poop  of  his  vessel.  Hubert 
de  Burgh  returned  triumphantly  to  Dover  with  his  prizes. 

This  last  check  was  the  death-blow  to  Louis's  cause  in  Eng 
land.  On  the  llth  of  September,  1217,  a  treaty  of  peace 
was  signed  at  Lambeth,  granting  easy  conditions  to  the  French 
prince,  and  a  full  pardon  to  his  English  adherents.  The  Pro 
tector  had  no  other  desire  than  to  put  an  end  to  the  struggle, 
and  to  see  England  delivered  from  the  foreigners ;  in  spite 


CHAP.  IX.]     KING   AND    BARONS.  — HENRY    III.  223 

of  its  prolonged  resistance,  the  city  of  London  even  obtained 
a  confirmation  of  its  privileges.  Louis  set  sail  in  the  middle 
of  September,  and  his  more  distinguished  partisans  were 
kindly  received  at  King  Henry's  court.  Magna  Charta  was 
again  confirmed,  not,  however,  without  some  modifications 
favorable  to  the  royal  prerogative ;  the  clauses  relating  to  the 
protection  of  the  forests  were  included  in  a  special  charter 
called  the  "  Forest  Charter,"  which  rendered  less  severe  the 
Norman  legislation  as  to  hunting  and  the  edicts  which  related 
to  it.  The  wisdom  and  moderation  of  Pembroke  prevailed 
in  the  councils  ;  the  Queen-mother,  Isabel,  had  fled  from  Eng 
land  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  and  her  first  husband,  the 
Count  of  Marche,  had  just  been  solemnly  remarried  to  her  ; 
the  legate  remained  with  the  young  prince,  and  was  in 
structed  by  the  Pope  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  vassal 
of  the  Church  as  well  as  those  of  the  suzerain  mistress  of 
England.  Order  seemed  to  have  been  re-established,  when 
the  Protector  died  (May,  1219),  and  the  power,  which  was 
afterwards  divided  between  Hubert  de  Burgh  and  Pierre  des 
Roches,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  became  a  bone  of  contention 
to  the  rivals  and  the  barons  attached  to  either  party.  Habits 
of  insubordination,  which  had  been  developed  during  the  long 
struggle  against  arbitrary  power,  had  borne  their  fruit.  Eng 
land  was  rent  asunder  by  internal  quarrels  which  it  was  not 
even  hoped  would  end  on  the  king's  attaining  his  majority, 
for  Henry  III.  grew  up  without  becoming  a  man.  Absorbed 
in  the  love  of  luxury  and  pageantry,  in  the  songs  of  minstrels 
and  the  masterpieces  of  the  sculptors  or  of  the  artists  with 
whom  he  loved  to  surround  himself,  he  appeared  to  take  no 
interest  in  his  affairs,  and  displayed  no  warlike  inclinations, 
but  left  the  barons  to  quarrel  among  themselves,  and  the 
Italian  priests  to  devour  the  substance  of  his  kingdom,  with 
out  manifesting  any  desire  to  find  a  remedy.  France  was 


224  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IX. 

suffering  from  the  evils  of  a  minority.  Louis  VII.,  who  had 
succeeded  Philip  Augustus  in  1223,  had  reigned  but  a  short 
time,  and  Louis  IX.  was  not  sixteen  years  of  age  when,  in 
1230,  the  King  of  England,  who  had  come  of  age  two  years 
before,  made  a  raid  on  Brittany  at  the  instigation  of  some 
noblemen  of  Normandy,  Brittany,  and  Poitou.  But  Blanche 
of  Castile  possessed  a  more  vigorous  spirit  and  a  stronger 
arm  than  King  Henry  III. ;  she  herself  led  her  son  to  the 
war,  and,  in  spite  of  the  turbulency  of  the  French  barons, 
who  were  always  eager  to  shake  off  their  yoke,  she  saw  her 
efforts  crowned  with  success.  Several  towns  belonging  to  the 
King  of  England  opened  their  gates  to  her,  while  King  Henry 
was  losing  time  and  wasting  his  resources  on  fetes  and  tour 
naments  at  Nantes.  He  started  back  for  England  in  the 
month  of  October,  deeply  humiliated,  leaving  his  ally,  the 
Duke  of  Brittany,  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  of  Louis  IX., 
who  granted  him  the  pardon  which  he  had  humbly  solicited 
with  a  rope  round  his  neck.  The  Parliament  (this  Norman 
name  was  beginning  to  be  used)  which  was  convoked  at 
Henry's  return,  refused  to  grant  any  subsidies,  alleging  that, 
thanks  to  the  folly  and  imprudence  of  the  king,  his  barons 
were  no  richer  than  himself. 

Hubert  de  Burgh  had  for  some  years  past  triumphed  over 
his  rival,  Pierre  des  Roches,  who  was  obliged  to  retire  into 
private  life ;  but  the  ill  success  of  the  expedition  to  France 
had  ended  by  causing  a  feeling  against  the  minister  among 
many  of  the  nobility,  who  were  jealous  of  his  power.  Pierre 
des  Roches  reappeared  at  the  court,  and  soon  afterwards  formal 
accusations  were  made  against  Hubert,  most  of  them  frivo 
lous,  and  attesting  nothing  but  his  fidelity  to  his  king,  whom 
he  had  served  and  defended  during  so  many  years.  But 
Henry  III.  was  not  in  a  position  to  protect  his  friend,  and 
would  scarcely  recognize  him ;  he  was  prejudiced  against 


KING   JOHN'S   ANGER   AFTER   SIGNING   MAGNA   CHARTA. 


HUBERT   DE   BURGH    AWAITING   HIS   ENEMIES. 


CHAP.  IX.]      KING  AND    BARONS.  —  HENRY  III.  225 

Hubert,  who  took  refuge  at  Merton  Abbey.  The  king  had 
ordered  that  he  should  be  arrested  there;  but  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Dublin  reminded  him  of  the  privilege  of  sanctuary, 
and  obtained  a  passport  which  authorized  the  fallen  minister 
to  retire  to  his  residence  and  prepare  his  defence.  On  the 
faith  of  this  promise  Hubert  de  Burgh  set  out  to  meet  his 
wife,  the  King  of  Scotland's  sister,  at  Bury  St.  Edmund's ; 
but  he  was  attacked  on  the  way  by  a  band  of  armed  men 
sent  by  the  king.  Hubert  was  in  bed  at  the  time  ;  he  fled 
half  naked  into  the  parish  church,  and,  seizing  in  one  hand 
the  crucifix  and  in  the  other  the  host,  he  awaited  his  enemies 
upon  the  steps  of  the  altar.  He  was  dragged  into  the  church 
yard,  and,  on  the  refusal  of  a  blacksmith,  who  declared  that 
he  would  rather  die  than  chain  down  the  defender  of  Dover 
Castle,  was  tied  to  a  horse,  and  conducted  to  the  Tower  of 
London.  The  violation  of  the  consecrated  spot,  however, 
excited  the  public  indignation  to  such  a  degree  that  the  king 
found  himself  obliged  to  send  his  prisoner  to  Brentwood 
church,  which  he  caused  to  be  surrounded  by  palings  and 
trenches,  thus  compelling  Hubert  to  give  himself  up  volun 
tarily.  Having  been  again  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  the  earl 
was  deprived  of  all  his  property,  and  afterwards  languished 
for  one  year  in  the  Castle  of  Devizes.  He  contrived  to  escape, 
and,  having  been  rescued  by  his  friends  at  the  very  moment 
when  his  enemies  were  upon  him,  he  regained  a  certain  amount 
of  power  ;  but  he  no  longer  aspired  to  the  dangerous  position 
of  prime  minister,  which  his  rival,  Pierre  des  Roches,  had 
lost  in  consequence  of  his  manoeuvres  and  excesses.  Being 
satisfied  with  the  recovery  of  his  liberty  and  a  portion  of  his 
property,  Hubert  left  the  new  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Edmund  Rich,  in  undisturbed  possession  of  the  supreme  au 
thority.  This  prelate,  like  his  predecessor  Stephen  Langton, 
was  a  patriotic  statesman,  who  contrived  for  the  moment  to 
VOL.  I.  29 


226  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IX. 

conquer,  by  his  good  sense  and  wisdom,  the  aversion  which 
the  king  manifested  towards  charters,  and  the  restlessness  of 
the  barons,  who  were  always  inclined  to  maintain  by  force  of 
arms  the  privileges  which  they  had  gained  with  so  much 
difficulty. 

A  fresh  element  of  discord  had  sprung  up  between  the  king 
and  his  people.  Henry  had  married  in  1236  Eleanor  of  Pro 
vence,  sister  of  Margaret,  wife  of  Louis  IX.,  King  of  France. 
A  large  number  of  Gascons  and  Provengals  had  followed  her 
to  the  court ;  the  queen  was  accompanied  by  four  uncles, 
young  brothers  of  her  mother,  the  Princess  of  Savoy.  The 
king  immediately  conceived  a  firm  friendship  for  them  :  the 
Bishop  of  Valence  became  prime  minister ;  his  brother  Boni 
face  was  promoted  to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  which 
Edmund  Rich  had  abandoned,  weary  and  disgusted,  to  retire 
into  a  monastery  ;  and  the  two  other  brothers  were  also  pro 
vided  for.  Even  this  was  not  sufficient :  the  queen-mother, 
now  Countess  of  La  Marche,  sent  to  the  court  of  England 
the  four  sons  whom  she  had  borne  to  Hugh  de  Lusignan,  and 
the  wealth  and  honors  which  the  king  lavished  on  the  broth 
ers  attracted  towards  them  a  large  number  of  adventurers. 
The  king  found  himself  without  money ;  all  the  ecclesiastical 
benefices  were  reserved  for  Italians,  by  virtue  of  the  Pope's 
authority  over  the  country.  Parliament  always  insisted  on 
the  departure  of  the  strangers  as  a  condition  of  granting  sub 
sidies;  but  the  king,  immediately  on  obtaining  the  money, 
forgot  his  promises,  and  even  his  oaths,  and  his  frivolous 
followers  laughed  at  Magna  Charta  and  the  importance  which 
the  barons  attached  to  it.  "  What  are  the  English  laws  to 
us?"  they  would  ask. 

By  these  laws  the  king  was  compelled  to  ask  his  people 
for  the  means,  which  he  wasted  so  foolishly  on  feasts  and 
extravagance.  Each  day  the  Parliament  became  more  reluc- 


CHAP.  IX.]       KING    AND    BARONS.  —  HENRY   III.  227 

tant  to  grant  them.  The  queen-mother,  offended,  she  said, 
by  the  Countess  of  Poitou,  sister-in-law  of  Louis  IX.,  urged 
her  son  to  declare  war  with  France,  assuring  him  that  the 
old  vassals  of  his  house  were  eager  to  gather  round  his 
standard.  The  English  barons  refused  the  necessary  subsi 
dies,  saying  that  the  truce  agreed  to  between  the  two  king 
doms  still  remained  in  force.  Henry  was  not  of  a  warlike 
disposition ;  but  his  mother  was  importunate ;  he  raised  some 
money,  and  set  sail  for  France  with  three  hundred  knights. 
A  certain  number  of  malcontents  soon  joined  him,  commanded 
by  the  Count  of  Marche,  whom  his  wife  sent  to  the  war, 
as  she  had  already  sent  her  son.  King  Louis  IX.  had  taken 
the  field  with  forces  superior  to  those  of  the  English.  The 
two  young  monarchs  met  near  the  castle  of  Taillebourg,  in 
Saintonge,  on  the  banks  of  the  Charente.  Louis,  at  the  head 
of  his  forces,  attacked  the  bridge  defended  by  the  English 
troops,  and  for  a  moment  withstood  almost  unaided  their 
united  efforts.  His  signal  courage  gained  the  day ;  the  bridge 
was  taken,  the  English  were  routed,  and  the  King  of  England 
escaped  in  company  with  his  brother,  to  whom  he  owed  his 
safety.  The  two  brothers  took  refuge  in  Saintes.  A  second 
battle  was  fought  on  the  morrow,  under  the  walls  of  the 
town,  and  the  English  were  again  defeated.  The  Count  of 
Marche  surrendered,  and  King  Henry,  flying  across  Saintonge, 
embarked  at  Blaye,  leaving  the  decorations  of  his  chapel  and 
the  money  remaining  in  his  coffers  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
It  was  to  the  moderation  of  King  Louis  IX.  and  to  the  scru 
ples  of  his  sensitive  conscience  that  the  English  were  indebted 
for  a  truce  of  five  years. 

The  barons,  humiliated  and  disgraced,  although  they  had 
not  been  engaged  in  the  quarrel  with  France,  claimed  the 
right  of  nominating  the  chief  justicier,  the  chancellor,  and 
several  other  officers  of  the  crown.  The  king  refused,  and 


228  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IX. 

the  Parliament  only  allowed  him  what  was  strictly  necessary 
on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  his  eldest  daughter  to  the 
King  of  Scotland.  Henry  had  conceived  a  hatred  of  parlia 
ments.  In  order  to  manage  without  them,  he  had  recourse 
to  every  expedient  by  which  he  could  raise  money ;  he  exacted 
enormous  fines,  tortured  the  Jews,  and  begged  presents  of  all 
his  vassals.  "  God  gave  us  this  child,  but  the  king  sold  him 
to  us,"  said  a  wag  at  the  birth  of  one  of  the  princes.  Henry 
even,  on  one  occasion,  sold  a  portion  of  the  royal  table-plate. 
He  was  advised  to  sell  everything;  but  the  difficulty  was  to 
find  buyers.  "  The  citizens  of  London  will  buy  anything," 
cried  the  king  bitterly.  "  By  my  faith  !  if  the  treasures  of 
Augustus  were  for  sale,  the  citizens  would  make  the  pur 
chase.  These  villains  live  like  barons,  while  we  are  in  want 
of  the  principal  necessaries  of  life."  The  king  detested  the 
city  of  London,  but  he  levied  as  many  taxes  as  possible  upon 
its  inhabitants,  instructing  the  persons  of  his  household  to 
obtain  all  the  things  necessary  for  his  entertainments  without 
paying  for  them,  and  continually  claiming  gifts  under  the 
most  frivolous  pretexts  from  the  citizens. 

In  1253,  King  Henry  had  come  to  an  end  of  all  his  resources 
and  expedients.  He  was  compelled  to  convoke  a  Parliament, 
declaring  that  he  was  anxious  to  assume  the  cross,  and  to  go 
and  deliver  the  tomb  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  hands  of  the 
infidels.  The  barons  had  often  seen  this  pious  pretext  made 
use  of,  and  were  not  to  be  deceived  by  it ;  they  were,  besides, 
accustomed  in  private  life  to  hear  the  same  determination 
announced,  in  order  to  set  aside  the  most  solemn  obligations. 
Before  making  any  grant,  they  exacted  a  new  and  solemn 
ratification  of  their  liberties.  On  the  3d  of  May  the  king 
proceeded  to  Westminster  Hall ;  the  barons  were  assembled 
there,  and  all  the  bishops  were  standing  with  tapers  in  their 
hands.  They  offered  one  to  the  king.  "  I  am  not  a  priest," 


CHAP.  IX.]        KING   AND   BARONS.— HENRY  III.  229 

he  said,  and  refused  it.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  stepped 
forward,  and  uttered  the  sentence  of  excommunication  against 
all  those  who  should,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  violate  the 
charters  of  the  kingdom.  As  he  finished  speaking,  all  the 
prelates  threw  aside  their  tapers,  which  were  extinguished  at 
their  feet,  and  the  priests  cried :  "  May  the  soul  of  him  who 
may  incur  this  sentence  be  extinguished  in  a  like  manner  in 
hell."  The  king,  uplifting  his  hand,  uttered  this  oath:  "May 
God  help  me  to  preserve  intact  all  these  charters,  as  I  am 
a  Christian,  as  I  am  a  knight,  and  as  I  am  a  king  anointed 
and  crowned."  Scarcely  had  he  received  the  subsidies,  when 
he  started  on  an  expedition  to  Guienne,  which  was  threat 
ened  by  the  intrigues  of  Alphonso,  King  of  Castile.  The  quar 
rel  was  soon  settled,  and  a  marriage  decided  upon  between 
Prince  Edward,  Henry's  elder  brother,  and  Princess  Eleanor, 
daughter  of  Alphonso.  But  the  king  kept  this  happy  con 
summation  secret,  in  order  to  obtain  fresh  subsidies  from  his 
English  subjects,  under  the  pretence  of  continuing  the  war. 
He  only  came  back  to  England  when  he.  found  himself,  as 
usual,  reduced  to  beggary. 

The  king's  want  of  political  foresight  was  as  conspicuous 
as  his  prodigality  and  weakness.  The  King  of  Sicily,  Fred 
erick  II.,  had  been  dead  some  time  (1250).  He  had  been 
excommunicated,  and  Pope  Innocent  IV.  had  claimed  his 
kingdom  as  a  fief  of  the  Holy  See.  Frederick's  son,  Prince 
Conrad,  supported  generally  by  the  people,  was  resisting  this 
pretension  by  force  of  arms,  and  the  Pope  was  casting  about 
for  a  foreign  prince  who  might  be  disposed  to  take  up  the 
quarrel.  He  offered  the  crown  of  Sicily  to  Richard,  brother 
of  the  King  of  England,  whose  immense  fortune,  derived  from 
the  Cornish  mines,  rendered  him  more  powerful  even  than 
King  Henry  himself ;  but  he  refused  the  tempting  bait, 
although  he  was  quite  ready  to  be  seduced,  some  months  later, 


230  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IX. 

by  the  hope  of  gaining  possession  of  the  empire.  The  Pope 
then  offered  the  kingdom  of  Sicily  to  the  King  of  England 
for  his  second  son,  Edmund,  and  the  monarch  joyfully  ac 
cepted  the  offer,  without  troubling  himself  about  the  demands 
of  his  subjects  or  the  state  of  his  finances.  The  Pope  was 
borrowing  of  the  Lombards  and  the  Venetians,  and  raising 
troops  in  his  name ;  but  the  Holy  See  was  a  hard  and  urgent 
creditor.  Innocent  IV.  soon  demanded  back  the  money  which 
he  had  spent,  and  ordered  the  English  clergy  to  lend  the 
necessary  funds  to  the  king.  The  clergy  refused  ;  the  king 
levied  enormous  taxes  on  the  abbeys  and  churches.  The  legate 
sent  to  England  to  recover  the  money  encountered  on  all 
sides  the  most  violent  opposition.  "  I  would  rather  die  than 
pay  so  much  money,"  said  the  Bishop  of  Worcester.  "  The 
King  and  the  Pope  are  stronger  than  we,"  said  the  Bishop 
of  London ;  "  but  if  I  am  deprived  of  my  mitre,  I  shall  be 
able  to  wear  a  helmet."  The  legate  returned,  convinced  that 
a  storm  was  about  to  burst  over  England. 

It  was  on  the  2d  of  May,  1258  ;  famine  reigned  through 
out  the  kingdom.  Henry  III.  had  been  reduced  to  the  neces 
sity  of  convoking  Parliament.  When  he  entered  Westmin 
ster  Hall,  the  barons  were  awaiting  him  there,  clad  in  their 
armor.  On  hearing  the  clanking  of  arms  at  his  arrival,  the 
king  suddenly  turned  pale.  "  Am  I  a  prisoner,"  he  said, 
nervously.  "  No,"  said  Roger  Bigod,  Earl  of  Norfolk  ;  "  but 
your  foreign  favorites  and  your  own  extravagance  have  re 
duced  the  country  to  such  an  abject  state  of  misery,  that 
we  demand  that  the  power  may  for  the  future  be  vested  in 
a  committee  of  bishops  and  barons,  in  order  that  they  may 
root  out  all  the  abuses,  and  make  good  laws  for  us."  One 
of  the  Lusignans  began  to  protest.  The  king  agreed,  with 
out  any  reservation,  to  the  demands  of  the  barons,  who  prom 
ised,  in  return,  to  help  him  to  pay  his  debts,  and  to  support 


*CHAP.  IX.]       KING   AND   BARONS.  —  HENRY  HI.  231 

the  pretensions  of  his  son  in  Italy,  provided  that  he  would 
give  proofs  of  his  sincerity  at  the  reassembling  of  Parliament, 
which  was  to  be  convoked  at  Oxford. 

At  the  head  of  the  barons,  in  their  resistance  and  indig 
nation  against  foreigners,  was  Simon,  Earl  of  Leicester,  him 
self  a  foreigner.  The  youngest  son  of  Simon  of  Montfort, 
the  persecutor  of  the  Albigenses,  he  had  inherited  the  earl 
dom  of  Leicester  through  his  mother,  and  had  recovered  his 
property,  which  had  been  confiscated  in  1232,  through  the 
favor  of  King  Henry,  who  had  taken  a  fancy  to  the  young 
ProvenQal,  whom  he  had  aided  in  marrying  his  sister  Eleanor, 
widow  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  to  the  great  indignation  of 
the  royal  family  and  the  nobility  of  England. 

The  favor  of  the  king  was  short-lived.  Montfort  had  ini 
tiated  himself  into  the  good  graces  of  the  barons,  who  had 
been  so  violently  opposed  to  him  at  first ;  and  the  king,  jeal 
ous  and  uneasy,  drove  him  from  England  in  1239,  scarcely 
allowing  the  earl  time  enough  to  embark  with  his  wife,  who 
went  with  her  husband  to  France.  He  left  her,  to  assume 
the  cross  and  proceed  to  Palestine,  where  he  distinguished 
himself  by  glorious  feats  of  arms.  On  his  return,  the  king 
had  forgotten  his  jealousy  and  anger.  The  earl  lived  peace 
ably  in  England,  and  was  even  raised  to  the  dignity  of  Gov 
ernor  of  Gascony.  He  was  recalled  in  1252,  under  the  pre 
tence  of  misbehavior,  and  young  Prince  Edward  was  provided 
with  the  office  thus  snatched  from  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
who  grew  more  and  more  attached  to  the  cause  of  the  refrac 
tory  barons,  of  whom  he  became  the  real  chief. 

The  king's  disorderly  habits  and  want  of  foresight  had  at 
length  reduced  him  to  the  last  extremities,  when  he  decided 
on  confronting  the  Parliament  assembled  at  Oxford  on  the 
llth  of  June,  1258.  The  whole  town  was  filled  with  men- 
at-arms  ;  all  the  barons  had  brought  a  numerous  following 


232  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IX. 

with  them.  They  presented  to  the  king  the  list  of  the  coun 
cil  who  were  to  be  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the 
kingdom.  Twelve  members  were  to  be  elected  by  the  king 
and  twelve  by  the  barons.  This  assembly,  presided  over  by 
the  Earl  of  Leicester,  was  to  be  invested  during  twelve  years, 
with  the  care  of  the  royal  castles.  No  expense  could  be  in 
curred  against  their  will ;  they  held  possession  of  the  great 
seal,  and  were  to  revise  the  accounts  of  the  chancellor  and 
of  the  treasurer  ;  the  king  was  to  be  compelled  to  convoke 
Parliament  three  times  a  year. 

Henry  agreed  without  hesitation  to  these  humiliating  con 
ditions,  just  as  his  father,  King  John,  had  signed  Magna 
Charta.  Prince  Edward,  whose  conscience  would  not  allow 
him  to  take  oaths  as  lightly  as  his  father  had  done,  at  first 
made  a  show  of  resistance,  but  ended  by  acceding  to  the 
wishes  of  the  barons.  His  cousin  Henry,  son  of  Richard  of 
Cornwall,  who  was  then  known  as  the  King  of  the  Romans, 
declared  that  his  oath  would  not  be  valid  if  made  in  the 
absence  of  his  father.  "  Let  your  father  have  a  care,"  said 
Leicester,  "if  he  refuse  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  barons  of 
England;  for,  in  that  case,  he  shall  not  remain  in  possession 
of  one  foot  of  land  in  the  kingdom."  The  young  nobleman 
accordingly  took  the  oath. 

The  king's  brothers  had  refused  to  give  up  the  castles 
which  they  occupied.  "  I  will  have  them,  or  you  shall  lose 
your  head,"  Montfort  declared  to  William  of  Valence.  And 
he  made  such  formidable  accusations  against  them  at  the 
council,  that  the  four  brothers  took  refuge  in  Wolesham 
Castle.  The  barons  pursued  them,  made  them  prisoners,  and 
sent  them  out  of  the  kingdom.  The  acts  of  the  Parliament 
of  Oxford  —  of  the  "Mad  Parliament,"  as  the  royalists  called 
it  —  were  strictly  observed  throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  barons  had  taken  every  precaution  against  a  feeble  or 


KING   HENRY'S   RATIFICATION   OF  THE   BARONS'   CHARTERS. 


CHAP.  IX.]       KING   AND    BARONS.  —  HENRY  III.  233 

improvident  government ;  but  they  had  not  been  able  to  guard 
against  the  temptations  of  triumphant  ambition.  The  offices 
left  vacant  after  the  departure  of  the  king's  favorites  were 
filled  up  by  the  favorites  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  His  allies 
began  to  grow  alarmed  at  his  great  power ;  the  King  of  the 
Romans,  who  had  recently  returned  to  England,  after  having 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  acts  of  the  barons,  endeav 
ored  to  create  rivals  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  The  barons, 
violent  and  haughty,  insulted  the  king  and  oppressed  the 
people.  "  Why  are  you  so  bold  with  me,  my  lord  earl  ? " 
said  Henry  to  Roger  Bigod ;  "  do  you  not  know  that  I  could 
order  all  your  corn  to  be  destroyed  ? "  "  Indeed,  sir  king," 
said  the  earl,  "  and  could  I  not  send  you  the  heads  of  the 
destroyers  ?  " 

The  dissensions  among  the  barons  reawakened  the  hopes  of 
the  king.  He  had  provided  himself  with  a  dispensation  from 
the  Pope,  which  relieved  him  of  his  oaths ;  and  in  February, 
1261,  he  ventured  to  announce  to  the  barons  that  they  had 
greatly  abused  their  power,  and  that  he,  the  King  of  Eng 
land,  intended  for  the  future  to  govern  without  them.  He 
had  at  the  same  time  taken  possession  of  London.  Prince 
Edward,  who  had  recently  returned  from  France,  had,  on  the 
contrary,  tendered  his  support  to  the  barons,  out  of  respect 
for  his  oath,  as  he  said.  The  king  saw  a  certain  number 
of  his  adversaries  drawing  nearer  to  him,  and  in  spite  of  the 
rebellion  of  the  nobility,  the  temporary  success  of  the  king 
compelled  Leicester  to  escape  to  France,  swearing  that  he 
would  never  again  trust  to  the  oath  of  a  perjured  sovereign. 

In  1263  the  struggle  had  just  begun  afresh.  The  Great 
Earl,  as  Leicester  was  called,  had  raised  his  standard;  the 
king  had  taken  refuge  in  London,  and  Prince  Edward  was 
at  Windsor  Castle.  Queen  Eleanor,  who  was  even  more  de 
tested  in  the  city  than  the  king  her  husband,  had  endeav- 

VOL.  i.  30 


234  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IX. 

ored  to  escape  by  way  of  the  Thames ;  the  people  had  recog 
nized  her,  and  her  bark  had  been  pelted  with  mud  and  stones. 
Cries  were  heard  of,  "  Let  us  drown  the  witch ! "  The  lord 
mayor  of  London  had  had  some  difficulty  in  protecting  her. 
The  king  had  given  up  everything,  and  agreed  to  everything, 
but  only  to  attack  his  adversaries  again  in  the  month  of  June, 
arming  himself  against  them  with  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  claim 
that  the  authority  of  the  barons  in  the  government  was  to  be 
continued  after  Henry's  death,  under  the  reign  of  his  succes 
sor.  Prince  Edward's  scruples  disappeared  before  this  arrogant 
audacity,  and  he  openly  embraced  his  father's  cause. 

The  bishops  made  an  effort  to  put  an  end  to  the  civil  war ; 
they  proposed  to  submit  the  dispute  to  the  arbitration  of  Louis 
IX.,  a  noble  testimony  to  the  fairness  and  integrity  of  a 
prince  who  was  related  to  the  King  of  England  by  family 
ties.  The  barons  consented  at  first ;  but  King  Louis,  although 
requiring  that  Henry  should  respect  the  Great  Charter,  decided 
that  the  power  should  be  placed  in  the  king's  hands,  that 
the  sovereign  was  free  to  choose  his  attendants  from  among 
his  subjects  or  from  among  foreigners,  and  that  the  royal 
castles  should  be  given  up.  The  barons  smiled  disdainfully 
at  this  decision  ;  they  had  had  some  experience  of  the  king's 
good  faith,  and  expected  to  lose  all  the  liberties  acquired 
after  so  long  a  struggle,  if  they  did  not  hold  the  tokens  of 
them  with  a  firm  hand.  The  civil  war  recommenced ;  after 
alternate  successes  and  reverses,  the  two  armies  met  on  the 
plains  of  Lewes  in  Sussex.  Prince  Edward  violently  attacked 
a  body  of  citizens  of  London  who  had  followed  Leicester  to 
the  field  of  battle.  He  was  anxious  to  avenge  the  insult 
which  his  mother  had  suffered.  He  pursued  the  unfortu 
nate  soldiery,  whose  lines  were  soon  broken  by  the  king's 
cavalry.  But,  in  his  absence,  fortune  declared  itself  in  favor 
of  the  Earl  of  Leicester.  When  Edward  reappeared  upon  the 


CHAP.  IX.]       KING   AND    BARONS.  —  HENRY    III.  235 

field  of  battle,  the  king  was  a  prisoner,  as  well  as  his  brother, 
the  King  of  the  Romans ;  the  prince  soon  suffered  the  same 
fate ;  the  Lusignans  fled  and  again  made  their  escape  from 
England.  Leicester  was  now  master  of  the  situation  ;  the 
sovereign  and  the  heir-apparent  served  him  as  hostages. 
His  power  soon  became  greater  than  that  of  the  king  had 
been  at  any  time.  Having  been  excommunicated  by  the 
Pope,  he  took  no  notice  of  the  sentence,  notwithstanding 
his  sincere  piety.  Rome  had  abused  its  power,  and  a  great 
number  of  the  English  clergy  were  favorable  to  Leicester, 
and  supported  his  cause  as  that  of  the  people,  who  adored 
the  earl.  Strong  in  his  popularity,  Leicester  thought  him 
self  able  to  triumph  over  all  his  rivals.  He  compelled  the 
barons  who  had  sided  with  the  king  to  give  up  their  castles 
to  him,  causing  them  to  be  tried  by  their  peers,  and  then 
banishing  them  to  Ireland.  On  a  demonstration  being  made 
by  a  fleet  which  had  been  raised  in  France  by  Queen  Elea 
nor,  he  gathered  together  soldiers  from  all  the  boroughs 
and  cities  to  resist  the  invaders,  while  he  himself,  taking  up 
his  position  at  the  head  of  the  English  squadron,  was  cruising 
in  the  Channel  awaiting  the  enemy.  The  queen's  vessels  did 
not  dare  to  leave  port,  and  Leicester  returned  in  triumph  to 
England. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1265  the  earl  had  convened 
a  Parliament,  and,  for  the  first  time,  the  representatives  of  the 
counties  and  the  towns  had  taken  their  seats  beside  the  barons 
and  prelates.  Leicester  knew  where  his  real  strength  lay, 
and  looked  for  support  from  the  body  of  the  people.  All  that 
was  decreed  by  the  Parliament  as  thus  constituted  was  favor 
able  to  the  earl :  a  certain  amount  of  liberty  was,  however, 
granted  to  Prince  Edward,  who  was,  nevertheless,  closely 
watched.  He  soon  learned  to  profit  by  the  amelioration  in  his 
condition.  Issuing  forth  one  day  from  Hereford  Castle,  he 


236  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  IX. 

organized  races  among  his  guards,  reserving  to  himself  the 
right  of  awarding  the  prize  :  then  when  all  the  horses  were 
exhausted  with  the  exception  of  his  own,  he  galloped  off 
until  he  met  Roger  Mortimer,  one  of  his  friends,  who  was 
coming  from  the  frontiers  of  Wales  to  join  him.  The  party 
of  resistance  to  the  barons  thenceforth  had  a  chief,  and,  after 
a  year  of  supreme  power,  Leicester  was  destined  to  discover 
the  uncertainty  of  human  affairs. 

The  earl  had  five  sons ;  the  three  eldest  were  more  violent, 
more  tyrannical,  and  more  greedy  than  all  the  foreigners 
who  had  formerly  surrounded  the  king.  Henry  of  Montfort 
had  seized  upon  all  the  wool  intended  for  exportation,  and 
sold  it  for  his  own  benefit.  Guy  and  Simon  of  Montfort  had 
armed  a  fleet,  and  were  taking  possession  of  any  merchant 
men  that  they  chanced  to  come  across,  without  distinction  of 
parties.  They  added  thus  daily  to  the  number  of  their  ene 
mies,  and  were  quietly  undermining  the  power  of  their  father. 
The  Earl  of  Derby  and  the  young  Earl  of  Gloucester  (for 
merly  sincerely  devoted  to  Leicester)  embraced  the  cause 
of  Prince  Edward,  who,  seeing  his  forces  swell  rapidly,  ad 
vanced  towards  Kenilworth  Castle,  the  hereditary  property 
of  the  Earls  of  Leicester.  Simon  of  Montfort,  the  earl's 
second  son,  had  just  arrived  there  ;  he  was  marching  to  meet 
his  father,  who  was  endeavoring,  with  little  success,  to  raise 
an  army  ;  in  vain  did  he  summon  the  king's  vassals  to  come 
and  serve  under  his  standards ;  his  supporters  were  not  many. 
Prince  Edward  attacked  Simon's  camp,  just  outside  Kenil 
worth,  made  a  large  number  of  prisoners,  and  captured  all 
the  enemy's  baggage.  Simon  had  only  time  to  take  refuge 
in  the  castle,  and  he  had  been  unable  to  join  his  father, 
when  the  latter  arrived  at  Evesham,  on  the  14th  of  Au 
gust,  1265. 

A  number  of  banners  were  perceptible  in  the  distance,  and 


CHAP.  IX.]      KING   AND    BAHONS.  —  HENRY  III.  237 

the  earl's  barber  declared  that  he  recognized  the  arms  of  Si 
mon.  "  Go  up  into  the  church-steeple,  and  you  will  see 
better,"  said  Leicester.  The  barber  was  trembling  with  fear 
when  he  came  down ;  he  had  seen  the  lions  of  England,  the 
red  chevron  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  the  azure  bars  of  the 
Mortimers,  and  innumerable  lances  glistened  underneath  the 
banners. 

"  We  are  dead  men,  my  lord,"  said  he.  The  earl  was 
observing  the  order  of  battle  of  the  enemy.  "They  have 
learned  from  me  how  to  conduct  themselves,"  he  said,  calm 
ly  ;  "  may  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  our  souls,  for,  by  the 
arm  of  St.  James,  our  bodies  belong  to  the  prince  ;  "  and, 
re-entering  his  residence,  he  prepared,  as  usual,  for  the  fight 
by  prayer  and  the  sacrament.  His  son  Henry  was  encour 
aging  him.  "I  do  not  despair,  my  son,"  said  the  earl ; 
"your  presumption  and  the  pride  of  your  brothers  have 
brought  us  to  this;  but  I  will  die  for  the  cause  of  the  Lord 
and  justice." 

He  had  caused  the  feeble  king  to  be  armed,  and  had  taken, 
him  about  with  him  everywhere.  The  standard  of  England 
was  displayed  by  both  armies.  The  earl  was  endeavoring  to 
open  up  a  road  towards  Kenilworth ;  his  most  devoted  ad 
herents  had  formed  a  circle  round  him  ;  the  prince  still  pushed 
forward ;  in  front  of  him  a  horseman  had  just  fallen  from  off 
his  steed.  "  Save  me,"  cried  a  plaintive  voice;  "  I  am  Henry 
of  Winchester !"  Edward  sprang  forward,  and,  raising  up  his 
wounded  father,  dragged  him  into  a  place  of  safety.  In  his 
absence,  the  voice  of  the  earl  resounded  upon  the  field  of 
battle.  "Is  any  quarter  given?"  he  asked.  "No  quarter 
for  traitors  ! "  cried  a  royalist  triumphantly,  and,  at  the  same 
moment,  Henry  of  Montfort  fell  at  his  father's  feet.  "  By 
the  arm  of  St.  James,  it  is  time  to  die ! "  cried  Leicester, 
who  plunged  headlong  into  the  surging  crowd,  holding  his 


238  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP,  IX. 

sword  with  both  hands,  and  striking  down  all  who  came  in 
his  way.  He  fell  at  length,  as  well  as  the  knights  who 
still  surrounded  him ;  scarcely  a  dozen  remained  standing, 
when  Prince  Edward  sent  for  the  body  of  the  earl,  his 
godfather,  and  that  of  his  cousin  Henry,  to  transport  them 
to  the  abbey  of  Evesham ;  the  body  of  Leicester  was  de 
capitated,  and  his  hands  were  severed  from  his  arms;  his 
head  was  carried  to  Lady  Mortimer  by  her  husband's  savage 
warriors. 

Thus  died  "  Simon  the  Just,"  as  he  was  called  by  the 
people  of  England ;  a  sincere  man,  animated  by  more  noble 
sentiments  than  most  of  his  contemporaries  ;  haughty  and 
ambitious  without  being  cruel ;  a  man  who  had  rendered 
great  services  to  his  country  before  allowing  himself  to  abuse 
his  power  by  the  very  thirst  for  authority  and  popularity. 
The  remembrance  of  him  remained  sacred  among  the  people, 
who  would  assemble  round  his  tomb,  and  invoke  his  protec 
tion  devoutly,  complaining  of  his  not  having  been  canonized. 
His  sons  took  refuge  on  the  continent,  after  having  retained 
possession  for  some  time  of  Kenilworth  Castle.  The  younger 
ones  remained  with  their  mother,  who  was  generously  treated 
by  her  nephew  Edward ;  the  two  elder,  Guy  and  Simon, 
accomplished  their  revenge  by  murdering,  five  years  later, 
at  Viterbo,  their  cousin  Henry  of  Almagne,  in  a  church, 
during  the  celebration  of  the  mass.  They  disappeared  after 
this  crime :  the  House  of  Montfort  had  fallen  forever. 

The  king  had  regained  his  sceptre,  delivered  the  prisoners, 
and  called  back  the  exiles  who  had  been  banished  by  the  Great 
Earl ;  but  the  victory  gained  by  Leicester  survived  his  defeat. 
In  the  Parliament  convened  at  Winchester,  in  the  month  of 
September,  1265,  the  king  did  not  dare  to  repudiate  the  lib 
erties  acquired  by  England.  The  city  of  London  alone  lost 
its  charter,  but  the  severe  sentences  pronounced  against  Leices- 


CHAP.  IX.]      KING    AND    BARONS.  —  HENRY   III.  239 

ter's  partisans  excited  a  series  of  insurrections  which  Prince 
Edward  had  great  difficulty  in  quelling.  The  want  was  felt 
of  loosing  the  reins  of  government,  and  of  restoring  some 
trust  to  the  vanquished;  a  committee  composed  of  bishops 
and  barons  was  intrusted  to  draw  up  the  conditions  of  peace ; 
their  sentence,  known  under  the  title  of  the  Dictum  of  Kenil- 
worth,  was  confirmed  by  the  King  and  the  Parliament.  The 
efforts  of  the  Pope,  the  uprightness  and  good  sense  of  Prince 
Edward,  and  the  weariness  of  all  parties,  at  length  brought 
about  a  general  cessation  of  hostilities.  On  the  18th  of 
November,  1267,  more  than  two  years  after  the  battle  of 
Evesham,  the  Parliament,  which  had  assembled  at  Marlborough, 
adopted  several  of  the  liberal  guaranties  formerly  proposed 
by  the  Earl  of  Leicester  ;  the  last  of  the  "  patriots,"  as  they 
called  themselves,  who  still  held  the  Isle  of  Ely,  laid  down 
their  arms ;  the  citizens  of  London  received  a  fresh  charter, 
and  the  country  was  at  pea*ce. 

Scarcely  had  peace  been  secured,  when  Prince  Edward 
took  advantage  of  it  to  assume  the  cross,  as  did  also  his  wife 
Eleanor  of  Castile,  and  his  cousin  Henry  of  Almagne.  They 
made  sail  in  the  month  of  July,  1270 ;  Louis  IX.  had  just 
set  out  on  his  second  crusade,  and  Prince  Edward,  a  great 
admirer  of  his  uncle  of  France,  was  hastening  to  join  him, 
when  Henry  of  Almagne,  who  had  been  sent  upon  a  secret 
mission  to  Italy,  was  assassinated  by  his  cousins,  the  Mont- 
forts.  This  blow  was  fatal  to  the  old  King  of  the  Romans, 
who  died  in  the  month  of  December,  1271 ;  eleven  months 
afterwards,  on  the  16th  of  November,  1272,  his  brother,  King 
Henry  III.,  also  died.  He  was  interred  in  Westminster 
Abbey ;  but  before  being  lowered  into  the  grave,  the  Earl 
of  Gloucester,  placing  his  naked  hand  upon  the  corpse,  took 
an  oath  of  fidelity  to  King  Edward  I. ;  the  other  barons  fol 
lowed  his  example.  King  Henry  was  sixty-five  years  of  age, 


240  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  IX. 

and  had  reigned  fifty-six.  King  only  in  name,  feeble  and 
frivolous,  he  had  seen  the  liberties  of  his  people  grow  greater 
under  his  eyes  and  against  his  wish ;  his  son,  who  was  still 
vainly  contending  against  them,  was  destined  to  derive  from 
the  free  support  and  spontaneous  ardor  of  the  English  na 
tion  the  strength  which  served  him  through  his  wars  and 
conquests. 


CHAP.X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  241 


CHAPTER  X. 

MALLEUS    SCOTORUM  —  EDWARD    I.     1272-1307. 
EDWARD    II.     1307-1327. 

THE  English  fleet  was  speeding  towards  the  coast  of 
Tunis,  to  which  place  the  policy  of  Charles  of  Anjou 
had  taken  Louis  IX.  Prince  Edward  was  already  rejoicing 
at  the  idea  of  going  back  to  his  uncle,  to  gain  instruction 
in  Christian  chivalry.  But  with  the  land  appearing  in  the 
horizon,  when  approaching  the  port,  the  French  vessels  were 
seen  to  be  in  mourning,  their  flags  flying  at  half-mast.  A 
feeling  of  uneasiness  spread  through  the  fleet.  A  little  bark 
put  out  from  shore  ;  she  came  alongside  the  prince's  vessel. 
"  The  holy  king  is  dead,"  said  the  sailors,  and  they  burst 
into  tears.  Prince  Edward  was  in  despair ;  he  landed,  and 
appeared  to  his  imagination  to  be  walking  among  ghosts. 
The  French  soldiers,  discouraged,  sick,  and  disheartened,  re 
solved  to  give  up  an  enterprise  the  commencement  of  which 
had  been  so  disastrous.  The  young  King  of  France,  Philip 
the  Bold,  urged  Prince  Edward  to  return  like  himself  to  his 
country ;  but  Edward  was  inflexible.  "  I  would  go,"  said 
he,  "even  had  I  only  with  me  Torvac,  my  equerry."  As  far 
as  Trapani,  in  Sicily,  he  accompanied  the  funereal  journey  of 
King  Philip,  who  bore  homeward  the  coffins  of  his  father  and 
brother.  When  he  reached  France,  the  unfortunate  young 
monarch  had  added  to  these  the  biers  of  his  wife,  his  sister, 
and  his  brother-in-law,  the  King  of  Navarre. 

Prince  Edward  left  Sicily  in  the   spring  of  1271,  making 
VOL.  i.  31 


242  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

sail  towards  Acre,  the  only  place  which  still  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Christians.  He  commanded  a  small  band  of 
troops,  and  the  European  knights  who  were  in  Palestine  did 
not  respond  very  readily  to  his  appeal.  An  attack  on  Naza 
reth,  which  was  followed  by  the  massacre  of  the  Mussulman 
garrison,  and  the  repair  of  the  walls  round  Acre,  had  been 
the  only  result  of  the  Seventh  Crusade,  when  Edward  himself 
nearly  fell  a  victim.  He  was  in  his  camp,  on  the  Friday 
after  Whit-Sunday,  about  the  hour  of  vespers ;  overcome 
by  the  heat,  he  was  resting  upon  a  couch,  when  a  messenger 
from  the  Emir  of  Jaffa  presented  himself  at  the  door  of  the 
tent.  He  was  in  frequent  communication  with  the  prince, 
and  was,  therefore,  allowed  to  enter.  The  Arab  presented 
his  papers;  then  suddenly  drawing  a  dagger  from  his  long 
sleeve,  he  stabbed  the  prince  in  the  region  of  the  heart. 
Edward  sprang  up  from  his  couch,  and,  knocking  down  the 
assassin,  fractured  his  skull  with  a  stool.  Then,  repressing 
with  a  sign  the  violence  of  his  attendants,  who  had  appeared 
on  hearing  the  commotion,  and  who  were  mutilating  the  assas 
sin's  body,  — "  Of  what  use  is  it,"  he  asked,  "  to  strike  a 
dead  man  ?  " 

The  prince's  wound  was  slight,  but  the  idea  of  poison 
presented  itself  to  everybody's  mind.  The  Spanish  legend 
relates  that  Eleanor  of  Castile  kneeled  down  before  her  hus 
band,  and  applying  her  lips  to  the  wound,  sucked  the  poison 
from  the  wound.  This  noble  instance  of  conjugal  love  is 
disbelieved,  however,  by  some  historians.  An  English  surgeon 
was  called,  who  commenced  a  cruel  operation.  Eleanor  was 
very  pale,  and  her  brother-in-law  dragged  her  out N  of  the 
tent.  She  struggled  with  him,  weeping  all  the  while.  "  It 
is  better  that  you  should  cry,"  he  said,  abruptly,  "than  that 
all  England  should  be  in  mourning."  Edward's  wound  was 
soon  healed.  As  soon  as  his  wife  had  recovered,  after  the 


BURIAL   OF   KING   HENRY   III 


ATTEMPT   ON   PRINCE   EDWARD'S   LIFE. 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  243 

birth  of  a  little  girl,  called  Joan  of  Acre,  in  token  of  her 
birthplace,  the  English  troops  set  sail  again,  promising  them 
selves,  as  King  Richard  had  done,  to  come  back  to  the  Holy 
Land  with  larger  forces.  But  the  ardor  for  the  crusades  had 
died  out.  Saint  Louis  and  Prince  Edward  of  England  were 
the  last  crusaders,  and  eighteen  years  later,  in  1291,  the  last 
remnant  of  Christian  power  in  the  East  disappeared  in  its 
turn.  Acre  was  retaken  from  the  Templars  by  the  Sultan 
Keladeen.  The  Holy  Sepulchre  thenceforth  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  infidels. 

Prince  Edward  passed  through  Italy,  and  paid  a  visit  at 
Rome  to  Pope  Gregory  X.,  formerly  Archdeacon  of  Lie*ge, 
a  friend  of  the  prince,  and  while  with  him  received  tidings 
of  the  death  of  the  king  his  father.  The  grief  which  this 
loss  caused  him  was  so  violent  that  Charles  of  Anjou  was 
astonished  ;  a  throne  would  readily  have  consoled  him  for  the 
death  of  the  weak  Henry  of  Winchester.  "  You  lost  two 
children,"  he  remarked,  "  without  displaying  as  much  grief." 
"  The  Lord,  who  gave  me  my  children,  can  give  me  others," 
rejoined  Edward  ;  "  but  who  could  give  me  back  a  father  ? " 

The  new  king  was  in  no  hurry  to  return  to  his  king 
dom.  He  stayed  in  Italy  to  obtain  justice  for  the  murder 
of  Henry  of  Almagne  ;  but  Simon  of  Montfort  was  already 
dead,  and  Guy,  who  had  been  subjected  only  to  imprison 
ment,  had  contrived  to  elude  his  jailers.  From  thence  Ed 
ward  proceeded  to  France,  to  do  homage  for  Guienne  to  King 
Philip  the  Bold  ;  he  at  the  same  time  visited  his  possessions, 
being  apprehensive,  no  doubt,  that  some  plot  might  be  on 
foot  to  deprive  him  of  them.  On  his  return  he  was  chal 
lenged  to  single  combat  in  a  tournament  by  the  Count  of 
Chalons.  Edward  was  warned  by  the  Pope  that  there  were 
plots  against  his  life ;  he  was  by  nature  distrustful.  When 
he  saw  at  Chalons  a  larger  number  of  knights  than  he  pos- 


244  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  X. 

sessed  himself,  his  suspicions  were  aroused,  and  the  tourna 
ment  became  a  battle.  The  English  gained  the  victory ;  the 
Count  of  Chalons  himself  was  for  a  moment  in  danger ; 
Edward  compelled  him  to  save  his  life  by  surrendering  to 
a  common  soldier. 

On  the  2d  of  August,  1274,  the  King  of  England  at 
length  landed  at  Dover,  and  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month 
he  was  crowned  at  Westminster,  to  the  great  delight  of  the 
people.  The  nation  was  proud  of  its  young  king,  of  his 
reputation  for  courage  and  virtue,  of  his  exploits  and  perils 
in  the  Holy  Land.  His  reign  commenced  under  happy  au 
spices.  The  Jews  alone  disliked  the  accession  of  a  prince 
so  renowned  for  his  austere  piety  and  for  his  zeal  against 
the  infidels.  Their  instinct  had  not  deceived  them ;  Edward 
was  alwajrs  violently  hostile  to  them,  and  one  of  the  first 
acts  of  his  government,  on  his  return  from  the  crusade,  was 
to  hang  all  the  Jews  who  were  in  possession  of  clipped 
coin.  More  than  two  hundred  of  them  perished  in  London 
alone  for  this  offence,  common  among  both  the  Jews  and 
the  Christians.  It  was  but  the  beginning  of  their  grievances. 
Persecuted,  plundered,  imprisoned,  the  unlucky  Israelites  were 
finally  banished  from  the  country  in  1290,  and  all  the  prop 
erty  which  they  were  obliged  to  leave  behind  them  was 
confiscated. 

While  the  king  was  hanging  the  Jews,  he  was  also  insti 
tuting  a  commission  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  state  of 
landed  property  in  the  kingdom,  in  order  to  put  to  a  test  the 
title-deeds  of  the  Christians.  When  proofs  were  wanting,  the 
king  exacted  a  fine  before  granting  fresh  letters-patent;  but 
this  useful  device  was  not  always  practicable.  When  Earl 
Warren  was  called  upon  to  produce  his  documents,  he  drew 
his  sword.  "  This  is  the  title  by  which  I  hold  my  lands,"  he 
said,  "and  that  which  will  suffice  me  to  defend  them.  Our 


'THAT   IS   THE   TITLE   BY   WHICH   I   HOLD   MY   LANDS." 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  245 

fathers,  who  came  over  with  William  the  Bastard,  acquired 
the  land  with  their  good  lances ;  he  did  not  conquer  the 
country  unassisted  ;  he  was  supported  by  others,  and  his 
supporters  shared  the  spoil  with  him."  The  earl's  title- 
deeds  were  deemed  sufficient. 

The  prosperity  of  England  was  great  at  this  time ;  several 
years  of  rest  had  allowed  its  commerce  to  develop  itself. 
The  king  respected  the  charters  in  all  important  particulars ; 
his  zealous  judicial  administration  had  diminished  the  number 
of  robbers  who  infested  the  highways,  and  secured  the  integ 
rity  of  the  magistrates ;  he  was  popular  among  his  subjects. 
But  this  peaceful  glory  did  not  suffice  for  Edward  I.  As 
ambitious  as  his  ancestors,  he  had  a  desire  to  make  con 
quests  in  other  quarters.  Instead  of  looking  with  an  envious 
eye  on  the  Continent,  he  had  conceived  the  project  of  sub 
jecting  the  whole  of  Great  Britain  to  his  dominion.  Scotland 
was  far  off,  and  he  could  find  no  pretext  for  declaring  war 
in  that  direction.  Wales  had  never  recognized  anything  but 
a  partial  authority  of  the  kings  of  England,  and  the  reign 
ing  prince,  Llewellyn,  had  neglected  to  do  homage  to  Ed 
ward  I.  on  his  accession  to  the  throne.  It  was  in  this 
direction,  then,  that  the  king  turned  his  attention.  He 
advanced  towards  the  frontiers  of  Wales  near  the  end  of 
the  year  1276.  All  attempts  at  negotiation  failed,  and  Lle 
wellyn  was  declared  a  rebel  just  at  that  time  of  year  when 
the  snow  was  beginning  to  cover  the  mountains.  The  war 
could  not  possibly  begin  for  several  months. 

Edward,  however,  did  not  lose  time.  David,  the  younger 
brother  of  Llewellyn,  had  been  deprived  by  the  latter  of  all 
his  property ;  the  King  of  England  conferred  many  favors 
upon  him,  and  the  prince,  out  of  gratitude,  gathered  all 
his  partisans  under  the  standard  of  England.  Hostilities 
began  in  the  summer ;  Edward  entered  the  enemy's  terri- 


246  POPULAR   HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  X. 

tory,  while  his  fleet  took  possession  of  the  Isle  of  Angle 
sey,  and,  driving  Llewellyn  from  castle  to  castle,  from  retreat 
to  retreat,  he  reduced  him  in  a  short  time  to  famine  in  the 
depths  of  the  forests.  The  Welsh  prince  was  obliged  to 
surrender,  hard  as  were  the  conditions  imposed  upon  him. 
But  Edward  was  generous,  although  severe  ;  he  remitted  his 
demands  one  by  one,  and  ended  by  consenting  to  the  marriage 
of  Llewellyn  with  Eleanor  of  Montfort,  daughter  of  the  Earl 
of  Leicester.  She  had  for  some  time  been  affianced  to  him, 
and  had  been  captured  at  sea  in  the  preceding  year,  when 
she  was  proceeding  to  Wales.  David  had  received  a  large 
gift  of  property.  Edward  withdrew  his  armies,  leaving  in 
Wales  only  some  soldiers  in  the  castles,  and  the  Chief  Justice, 
Roger  Clifford,  who  was  intrusted  with  the  government  of 
the  new  conquest. 

The  King  of  England  had  not  taken  into  account  the 
patriotic  spirit  which  endeared  their  national  independence 
to  the  Welsh  people.  In  vain  had  he  raised  David  to  the 
rank  of  earl ;  in  vain  had  he  given  him  an  English  wife ; 
as  soon  as  the  Welsh  prince  found  himself  in  his  moun 
tains  again,  he  remembered  only  that  his  country  was  for 
merly  free,  and  that  he  had  contributed  towards  reducing  it 
to  subjection.  The  civil  and  military  measures  ordained  by 
Edward  were  obnoxious  to  the  people  :  the  highways  which 
were  opened  up  across  forests  ;  the  executions  of  criminals  for 
crimes  which  had  formerly  been  punished  by  fines,  according 
to  the  Welsh  laws;  the  encroachments  of  the  king's  officers 
upon  the  rights  of  the  Welsh  nobility  ;  —  so  many  grievances 
easily  furnished  pretexts  for  David's  new  resolve.  He  per 
suaded  his  brother  to  break  all  his  engagements  with  Edward. 
An  old  prophecy  of  Merlin  began  to  circulate  again  through 
out  the  mountains  ;  it  was  to  the  effect  that  the  Prince  of 
Wales  would  be  crowned  in  London  when  the  money  in 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  247 

that  town  should  be  round,  and  it  was  rumored  in  Wales 
that  it  was  forbidden  to  cut  in  halves  the  new  coin  which 
had  recently  been  struck  in  England,  as  had  hitherto  been 
the  practice.  The  day  of  victory  seemed  at  length  to  have 
arrived. 

It  was  on  Palm  Sunday,  1282 ;  dark  night  had  come  on, 
and  a  violent  storm  was  raging  in  the  forests.  David  sud 
denly  attacked  Hawarden  Castle,  where  the  chief  justicier 
resided.  The  latter  was  seized  in  his  bed,  wounded,  and 
dragged  into  the  mountains.  All  the  country  rose ;  Llewellyn 
joined  his  brother,  and  laid  siege  to  the  castles  of  Flint  and 
Rhuddlan ;  the  English  settlers  were  everywhere  murdered. 
All  Wales  was  up  in  arms  when  tidings  of  the  insurrection 
reached  the  king. 

Edward  pretended  not  to  believe  in  the  magnitude  of  the 
rebellion ;  but  he  adopted  active  measures  to  repress  it.  He 
soon  arrived  in  the  mountains.  The  autumn  had  come,  the 
bad  weather  was  beginning,  and  the  English  suffered  greatly 
from  the  inclemency  of  the  climate.  A  portion  of  the  army, 
who  tried  to  make  use  of  the  temporary  bridge  uniting  the 
Isle  of  Anglesey  to  the  mainland,  were  attacked  by  the  in 
surgents  and  completely  destroyed.  Edward  himself  was  sev 
eral  times  obliged  to  retreat.  Llewellyn,  emboldened  by  his 
success,  intrusted  David  with  the  defence  of  the  mountain 
defiles,  and  marched  to  meet  the  king,  who  had  gathered 
large  forces  near  Carmarthen.  A  detachment  encountered 
the  Welsh  prince  in  a  farm  where  he  had  slept,  and,  with 
out  knowing  him,  an  English  knight  engaged  in  a  com 
bat  with  him.  Llewellyn  was  killed;  the  struggle  was  then 
carried  on  between  the  English  and  the  Welsh  who  had 
come  to  join  their  prince.  When  the  dead  were  despoiled 
after  the  battle,  Llewellyn  was  recognized,  and  his  head  was 
sent  to  Edward  in  token  of  victory.  David  still  held  his 


248  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

position  in  the  mountains;  at  length  he  was  betrayed,  deliv 
ered  up  to  the  English,  and  imprisoned  in  Durham  Castle 
with  his  wife  and  children.  In  the  month  of  September, 
1283,  the  English  Parliament  condemned  him  to  death  as 
guilty  of  high  treason,  while  Edward  promised  a  new  prince 
to  the  country  which  he  had  just  subdued.  Queen  Eleanor 
was  at  Carnarvon  Castle,  waiting  to  be  delivered  of  a  child  ; 
she  gave  birth  to  a  son  on  the  25th  of  April,  1284.  The 
child  was  immediately  called  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales ;  and 
becoming  heir-apparent  to  the  throne,  by  the  death  of  his 
elder  brother  Alphonso,  this  title  remained  the  appellation  of 
the  eldest  son  of  the  King  of  England,  thus  perpetuating 
the  remembrance  of  the  definitive  subjection  of  the  Welsh 
people  and  the  trifling  consolation  which  the  conqueror  had 
offered  to  them. 

A  few  years  of  peace  followed  the  conquest  of  Wales. 
The  king  had  been  recalled  to  the  Continent  to  serve  as 
an  arbitrator  on  the  claims  of  the  houses  of  France,  of 
Aragon,  and  of  Anjou  to  the  crown  of  Sicily.  His  English 
subjects  were  clamoring  for  his  return,  and  they  ended  by 
refusing  him  the  necessary  subsidies.  The  king  then  returned 
to  England ;  but  a  great  misfortune  awaited  him ;  Queen 
Eleanor  died  on  the  29th  of  November,  1292.  With  her 
disappeared  the  softening  influence  which  had  modified  the 
haughty  character  and  ambitious  views  of  the  king :  and  just 
at  this  moment  a  great  temptation  offered  itself  to  him. 

The  King  of  Scotland,  Alexander  III.,  had  died  in  1286, 
leaving  no  other  heir  than  his  granddaughter  Margaret, 
Princess  of  Norway.  She  was  still  a  child,  and  her  father 
bad  retained  her  for  a  while  with  him.  She  at  length 
sailed  for  Scotland  in  1290 ;  but  she  died  during  the  pas 
sage,  and  Scotland  became  a  prey  to  all  the  evils  of  a  con 
tested  succession.  Thirteen  noblemen,  descendants  of  members 


CHAP.X.]  MALLEUS  SCOTORUM.  249 

of  the  royal  family,  set  up  claims  to  the  throne  simultane 
ously  ;  but  two  of  them  had  prospects  very  much  better  than 
those  of  any  of  the  others:  these  were  John  Baliol  and  Rob 
ert  Bruce,  grandson  and  son  of  the  two  elder  daughters  of 
David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  younger  brother  of  King  William 
the  Lion ;  but  no  one  possessed  claims  sufficiently  strong  to 
impress  the  people  in  his  favor.  The  Scotch,  troubled  by 
the  prospect  of  illimitable  anarchy,  dispatched  an  embassy  to 
King  Edward  to  ask  him  to  act  as  arbitrator  in  this  seri 
ous  aspect  of  affairs,  and  to  decide  who  should  be  king  of 
Scotland. 

Edward  received  the  deputation  at  Norham  on  the  10th  of 
May,  1291,  and  immediately  declared  that,  as  liege  lord  of 
Scotland,  he  would  settle  the  question  of  the  succession,  insist 
ing,  first  of  all,  upon  the  recognition  of  his  rights  of  superi 
ority  by  the  claimants.  The  Scotch  people  hesitated;  they 
asked  for  a  delay.  "  By  St.  Edward,  from  whom  I  hold  my 
crown,"  cried  the  King  of  England,  "  I  will  establish  my  just 
rights,  or  perish  in  the  attempt."  And  the  assembly  was 
adjourned  until  the  2d  of  June  following.  Edward  had  con 
voked  all  the  barons. 

On  the  appointed  day,  eight  claimants  had  met  near  Nor 
ham,  in  the  plain  of  Holly well-Haugh,  within  Scotch  territory. 
When  the  Chancellor  of  England  asked  these  persons,  among 
whom  was  Robert  Bruce,  whether  they  were  willing  to  abide 
by  the  decision  of  Edward,  King  of  England,  as  liege  lord 
of  Scotland,  Bruce  recognized  without  hesitation  the  rights 
of  the  powerful  monarch  who  could  award  the  crown  to  him. 
His  rivals  did  likewise  ;  and  John  Baliol,  who  arrived  on  the 
morrow,  was  the  more  willing  to  compromise  the  safety  of 
his  country  as  he  believed  he  had  secured  the  favor  of  Ed 
ward.  The  chancellor  had  taken  care  to  announce,  in  the 
name  of  his  master,  that  the  right  of  the  king  as  liege 

VOL.  i.  32 


250  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

lord,  which  had  just  been  recognized,  in  no  way  affected 
the  titles  to  property  which  he  might  think  proper  to  pro 
claim  valid  thereafter.  On  the  3d  of  June,  a  commission 
was  appointed  to  examine  the  rights  of  the  two  chief  claim 
ants,  and  the  regents  of  Scotland  consigned  all  the  royal 
castles  to  Edward,  on  condition  that  he  should  give  them 
up  two  months  after  the  decision  between  Bruce  and  Baliol. 
On  the  15th  of  the  same  month,  the  claimants  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  Edward,  as  did  also  a  great  number  of 
Scotch  barons,  and  peace  was  proclaimed  in  his  name,  as  liege 
lord  of  Scotland.  The  first  step  in  the  path  of  dependence 
had  been  made. 

The  second  act  of  the  drama  was  enacted  at  Berwick 
Castle,  on  the  17th  of  November,  1292.  There  King  Edward, 
having  made  a  careful  investigation  of  the  whole  subject, 
and  having  consulted  the  parliament  of  Scotland,  at  length 
declared  that  the  grandson  of  the  elder  daughter  had  a  prior 
claim  to  that  of  the  son  of  the  younger  daughter,  thus  decid 
ing  in  favor  of  Baliol  to  the  exclusion  of  Bruce.  On  the 
19th  the  governors  of  the  castles  received  instructions  to 
give  up  their  keys  to  the  new  king,  and  on  the  morrow 
Baliol  swore  fidelity  to  Edward  at  Norham.  Having  been 
crowned  on  the  30th  at  Scone,  he  proceeded  to  England, 
whither  King  Edward  had  been  called  back  in  consequence 
of  the  illness  and  death  of  Eleanor  of  Castile ;  the  new  king 
did  homage  for  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  on  the  26th  of 
November,  at  Newcastle.  The  King  of  England  again  reserved 
his  rights  of  property. 

While  Edward  was  laboring  to  subject  the  Scotch  people, 
King  Philip  the  Fair  was  secretly  plotting  with  the  intention 
of  driving  the  English  from  the  French  soil  and  depriving 
them  of  Aquitaine.  An  encounter  had  taken  place  between 
the  English  and  Norman  sailors  on  the  coast  of  Guienne ; 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  251 

the  merchantmen  of  the  two  countries,  taking  sides  warmly, 
had  been  engaged  in  several  fights  with  each  other.  The 
King  of  France  seized  the  opportunity,  on  some  outrages 
having  been  committed  on  his  subjects,  to  summon  King 
Edward  to  appear  at  his  court,  as  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  in 
order  to  answer  before  his  peers  for  the  offences  committed 
against  his  liege  lord.  Edward  sent  his  brother  Edmund, 
who  weakly  consented  to  satisfy  the  feudal  honor  of  King 
Philip  by  placing  in  the  hands  of  the  French  officers  the 
duchy  of  Gascony  for  a  period  of  forty  days.  The  condi 
tions  were  agreed  to.  The  question  was  not  one  of  terri 
torial  aggrandizement  but  of  reparation.  The  English  prince 
waited  for  forty  days.  That  period  of  time  having  elapsed, 
he  came  to  claim  the  restoration  of  his  domains ;  the  King 
of  France  laughed,  and  declared  that  the  Duke  of  Aqui 
taine  had  forfeited  his  rights  as  a  vassal  by  not  presenting 
himself  personally  before  his  liege  lord.  The  grand  consta 
ble  was  at  once  sent  to  all  the  towns  and  castles  belong 
ing  to  King  Edward;  a  large  number  of  them  opened  their 
gates  to  him ;  the  duchy  of  Aquitaine  was  returning,  it  was 
said,  to  the  crown.  Edward  I.  had  commenced  his  prepara 
tions  for  reclaiming  his  provinces  by  force  of  arms. 

The  English  ships  were  about  to  weigh  anchor,  when  a 
violent  insurrection  broke  out  in  Wales.  The  king  dispatched 
a  small  body  of  troops  into  Gascony,  sent  his  fleet  to  hover 
round  the  coasts  and  seize  upon  all  the  French  ships  which 
might  come  in  their  way,  and  dispatched  the  greater  por 
tion  of  his  forces  to  Wales.  In  spite  of  the  winter,  the  snow, 
the  mountains,  the  impenetrable  forests,  and  the  obstinacy  of 
the  insurgents,  Edward  pursued  his  enemies  in  all  directions, 
and  contrived  to  subdue  them.  Madoc,  the  ringleader,  laid 
down  his  arms  ;  the  most  intractable  chiefs  were  sentenced  to 
be  imprisoned  for  life,  and  the  king,  triumphant,  left  Wales 


252  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

to  embark  for  France.  The  Scotch  did  not  allow  him  time, 
however,  to  accomplish  his  intention. 

Since  Edward  had  placed  the  feeble  Baliol  upon  the  throne 
of  Scotland,  he  had  spared  him  no  humiliation.  Every  time 
that  a  petitioner,  dissatisfied  with  the  decision  of  the  King 
of  Scotland,  thought  proper  to  appeal  to  the  liege  lord,  Ed 
ward  would  summon  Baliol  to  appear  at  his  court  to  render 
an  account  of  his  judgment,  and  this  summons  was  repeated 
four  times  during  the  first  year  of  the  reign.  At  length, 
in  1293,  in  the  matter  of  a  complaint  of  the  Earl  of  Fife, 
Baliol,  who  was  tired  of  these  proceedings,  declared  that  the 
question  concerned  his  subjects,  and  that  he  could  not  reply 
to  the  appeal  without  consulting  his  people.  "  What !  "  cried 
Edward ;  "  you  are  my  vassal,  you  have  done  homage  to 
me,  and  it  is  to  answer  to  me  for  your  acts  that  you  are 
here."  Baliol  persisted;  the  English  Parliament  condemned 
his  conduct,  and  King  Edward  only  consented  to  retard  by 
some  months  the  pronouncing  of  the  sentence.  In  the  inter 
val,  the  difficulty  about  Guienne  occurred ;  and  King  Edward, 
occupied  with  his  struggles  against  his  own  liege  lord,  soon 
learned  that  his  vassal,  the  King  of  Scotland,  led  on  by  the 
national  movement  in  his  country,  had  contracted  with  King 
Philip  an  alliance  cemented  by  a  promise  of  marriage  be 
tween  his  young  son  Edward  and  Jane  of  Valois,  niece  of 
the  King  of  France.  A  short  time  before,  the  Parliament 
of  Scotland  had  decided  on  sending  back  all  the  English 
men  employed  at  the  court,  and  formed  a  council  consist 
ing  of  four  earls,  four  bishops,  and  four  barons,  who  were 
intrusted  with  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  king 
dom.  Baliol  was  held  by  his  subjects  in  a  kind  of  captivity. 

The  suspicions  which  King  Edward  had  conceived,  and 
which  had  kept  him  in  England,  while  he  sent  his  brother 
into  Guienne,  were  soon  justified.  The  Scotch  invaded  the 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  253 

county  of  Cumberland  with  a  large  army ;  they  were  easily 
repulsed.  Edward  soon  advanced  towards  the  frontier,  march 
ing  first  of  all  against  Berwick.  He  attacked  the  town  by 
land  and  by  sea,  and  all  resistance  was  useless.  The  king, 
mounted  upon  his  horse  Bayard,  was  the  first  to  spring 
across  the  moat  which  protected  the  town.  A  fearful  mas 
sacre  took  place  ;  neither  age  nor  sex  excited  any  pity.  It 
was  on  the  30th  of  March,  1296  ;  on  the  5th  of  April,  the 
Abbot  of  Arbroath  presented  himself  at  the  English  camp ; 
he  brought  Baliol's  renunciation  of  all  homage  towards  the 
King  of  England.  Edward  had  a  short  time  before  addressed 
a  similar  communication  to  Philip,  King  of  France  ;  but  this 
coincidence  did  not  appease  his  anger.  "  Ah  !  fool  and  felon  ! 
of  what  folly  is  he  guilty " !  he  cried ;  "  if  he  will  not 
come  to  us,  we  will  go  to  him."  And  he  marched  forward, 
taking  possession  on  his  way  of  the  castles  which  resisted 
him.  Dunbar,  Roxburgh,  Dunbarton,  Jedburgh,  Edinburgh, 
Stirling,  had  already  fallen  into  Edward's  hands,  when  a 
fresh  message  from  Baliol  was  brought  to  him.  He  humbly 
begged  for  peace.  The  king  did  not  do  his  revolted  vassal 
the  honor  of  treating  him  as  a  sovereign  and  of  negotiating 
personally  with  him  ;  he  ordered  Baliol  to  proceed  to  the 
castle  of  Brechin,  to  which  place  he  dispatched  the  Bishop 
of  Durham.  A  few  days  later,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1296, 
Baliol,  deprived  of  all  his  regal  insignia,  with  a  white  rod  in 
his  hand,  presented  himself  at  the  cemetery  of  Strathkathro, 
in  the  county  of  Angus,  acknowledging  that  he  had  violated 
all  his  obligations  towards  his  liege  lord,  who  had  very 
justly  invaded  his  fief.  After  this  act  of  self-abasement  and 
renunciation,  tired,  he  said,  of  the  malice  and  ingratitude  of 
men,  he  was  sent  to  the  Tower  in  honorable  captivity,  and 
subsequently  ended  his  life  in  his  domains  of  Normandy,  for 
gotten  or  despised  by  all. 


254  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

Robert  Bruce  at  once  claimed  the  crown.  "  Do  you  think 
that  I  have  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  conquer  kingdoms 
for  you  ? "  King  Edward  harshly  replied ;  and  he  marched 
towards  the  north,  receiving  everywhere  the  homage  of  the 
Scotch  nobility.  He  had  convened  a  parliament  at  Berwick ; 
he  proceeded  there  on  the  28th  of  August,  in  order  to  ar 
range  the  government  of  his  new  acquisition.  He  displayed 
on  this  occasion  great  prudence  and  moderation  ;  he  returned 
to  the  Church  all  property  which  had  been  confiscated  from 
it,  and  left  the  inferior  offices  in  the  hands  of  the  func 
tionaries  who  occupied  them  ;  but  the  guardianship  of  the 
castles  was  confided  to  the  English.  Warren,  Earl  of  Sur 
rey,  was  appointed  governor ;  Hugh  de  Cressingham,  treas 
urer;  and  William  Ormesby,  chief  justicier.  Scotland  was 
treated  as  a  conquered  country.  King  Edward  now  thought 
himself  at  leisure  to  devote  his  attention  to  his  affairs  in 
France,  and  to  prepare  to  cross  the  Channel. 

The  allies  of  England  upon  the  Continent  were  in  urgent 
need  of  his  help.  The  Earl  of  Bar,  the  son-in-law  of  Ed 
ward,  had  been  defeated  and  made  a  prisoner  in  an  attempt 
against  Champagne,  and  his  wife,  being  unable  to  obtain  his 
release,  had  died  of  grief.  Guy,  Count  of  Flanders,  had  been 
attracted  to  Paris  under  false  pretences,  together  with  his 
wife  and  his  daughter  Philippa,  who  was  affianced  to  Prince 
Edward  of  England ;  all  three  had  been  thrown  into  prison, 
and,  although  the  count  succeeded  in  buying  back  his  free 
dom,  he  had  been  compelled  to  leave  his  daughter  in  the 
hands  of  Philip  the  Fair,  who  denied  the  right  of  vassals 
to  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  without  the  authority 
of  their  lord. 

King  Edward  would  have  had  great  difficulty  in  helping 
his  foreign  allies,  for  he  was  engaged  in  a  struggle  against 
his  English  subjects.  The  conquest  of  the  countries  of  Wales 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  255 

and  Scotland  had  required  great  efforts,  and  the  nation  had 
borne  its  heavy  burdens  without  murmuring.  In  1295,  how 
ever,  at  a  request  from  the  king,  who  required  half  of  their 
revenues,  the  clergy  appealed  to  Pope  Boniface  VIII.,  who 
issued  a  bull  in  their  favor.  But  the  ecclesiastical  thunders 
had  begun  to  lose  their  terrors ;  Edward  had  seized  upon 
the  property  of  the  clergy,  and  the  bishops  had  ended  by 
submission.  The  merchants  and  citizens  were  more  obstinate 
than  the  priests ;  and  when  the  king,  in  1297,  conceived  the 
idea  of  imposing  an  enormous  tax  upon  every  bale  of  wool, 
making  at  the  same  time  large  requisitions  of  grain,  the  com 
plaints  became  loud.  From  remonstrance,  the  people  had 
arrived  at  overt  resistance,  when  the  king  seized  at  all  the 
ports  the  wool  and  skins  intended  for  exportation,  and  sold 
them  for  his  own  benefit.  The  merchants  met  together, 
protested  against  this  "  evil  toll,"  as  they  called  it,  and  de 
clared  that  the  Magna  Charta  ordered  that  the  English  people 
were  not  to  be  taxed  without  their  own  consent.  A  cer 
tain  number  of  powerful  noblemen  supported  the  citizens  in 
their  movement. 

King  Edward  had  raised  two  armies ;  one  was  to  march 
to  Guienne,  and  the  other  to  Flanders,  to  assist  Count  Guy, 
who  was  anxious  to  avenge  his  injuries  on  King  Philip. 
Edmund,  King  Edward's  brother,  had  died  in  Guienne  ;  the 
king  himself  was  proposing  to  command  the  expedition  in 
Flanders.  He  summoned  to  Salisbury  Humphrey  Bohun,  Earl 
of  Hereford  and  Constable  of  England,  and  Roger  Bigod,  Earl 
of  Norfolk,  field-marshal,  to  intrust  to  them  the  command 
of  the  army  of  Guienne  ;  both  replied  that  their  offices  com 
pelled  them  to  remain  near  the  king's  person  during  the 
war,  and  that  they  would  not  proceed  to  Guienne  without 
him.  "  Sir  Earl  Bigod ! "  cried  Edward,  addressing  himself 
to  Bigod,  "  you  shall  either  go  or  hang."  "  By  God,  Sir 


256  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  X. 

King,"  replied  the  proud  baron,  calmly,  "  I  will  neither  go 
nor  hang."  Upon  this,  both  the  Earl  of  Hereford  and  the 
Earl  of  Norfolk  retired  to  their  estates,  immediately  followed 
by  thirty  bannerets  and  by  fifteen  hundred  knights,  who  cre 
ated  wherever  they  went  an  opposition  to  the  levying  of  the 
taxes. 

The  king  was  in  an  awkward  position.  He  convoked  in 
London  a  popular  assembly,  having  taken  care,  first  of  all, 
to  become  reconciled  with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Winchelsea,  who  had  been  the  prime  mover  in  the  resist 
ance  of  the  clergy,  and  had  found  himself  deprived  of  all 
his  revenues  in  consequence  ;  then,  accompanied  by  the  prel 
ate,  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  Prince  Edward,  the  king 
appealed  directly  to  the  people,  assuring  them  that  nothing 
was  more  disagreeable  to  him  than  to  impose  heavy  burdens 
upon  his  well-beloved  subjects ;  but  that  he  had  been  com 
pelled  to  do  so  in  order  to  defend  them  against  the  Scotch, 
the  Welsh,  and  the  French.  "  I  am  now  going  to  expose 
myself  for  you  to  the  risks  of  war,"  said  he  ;  "if  I  return 
alive,  I  will  repay  you  for  everything ;  if  I  should  die,  there 
is  my  son :  place  him  upon  the  throne,  and  his  gratitude 
will  reward  your  fidelity."  The  king  was  weeping,  and  all 
those  who  were  present  were  profoundly  touched.  Prince 
Edward  was  declared  regent  amid  public  acclamation ;  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  appointed  his  adviser,  and  the 
king  marched  towards  the  coast.  He  had  scarcely  arrived  at 
Winchester,  when  he  was  stopped,  oil  the  12th  of  August, 
by  a  remonstrance  from  the  prelates,  the  earls,  the  barons, 
and  the  commoners  of  England,  declaring  that  they  were  not 
obliged  to  accompany  him  into  Flanders,  their  ancestors  not 
having  served  the  kings  of  England  in  that  country ;  and 
they  added  that,  even  were  they  so  disposed,  the  poverty 
to  which  they  had  been  reduced  did  not  allow  them  to  do 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  257 

it.  "The  king,"  they  said,  "had  already  violated  on  sev 
eral  occasions  the  charters  which  he  had  solemnly  ratified  ; 
his  '  evil  toll '  was  intolerable,  and  his  absence  was  about 
to  leave  the  country  a  prey  to  the  invasions  of  the  Scotch 
and  the  Welsh."  The  king  made  an  evasive  reply  to  this 
declaration ;  reckoning  upon  the  affection  of  the  common 
people,  he  made  sail  with  the  troops  who  remained  with 
him,  and  disembarked  at  Sluys  towards  the  end  of  August. 

Scarcely  had  Edward  left  the  coasts  of  England  when 
Bigod  and  Bohun  entered  London,  on  the  24th  of  August, 
at  the  head  of  considerable  forces.  The  strictest  discipline 
prevailed  in  the  ranks  of  their  followers.  They  went  straight 
to  the  treasury,  and  deposited  their  complaints  against  the 
arbitrary  exactions  and  the  violations  of  Magna  Charta  com 
mitted  by  the  king ;  then,  proceeding  to  Guildhall,  they 
exhorted  the  citizens  of  London  to  maintain  their  rights. 
The  young  regent,  being  alarmed,  convoked  a  parliament, 
which  abolished  the  impost  upon  wool,  and  decreed  that  no 
tax  whatever  should  in  future  be  raised  without  the  consent 
of  the  bishops,  peers,  citizens,  and  freemen  of  the  kingdom, 
and  that  the  king  should  not  seize  upon  any  goods  without 
the  authority  of  the  owners.  Orders  were  sent  out  to  read 
the  Magna  Charta  in  all  the  churches  once  a  year,  under  pain 
of  excommunication  against  those  who  should  endeavor  to 
prevent  it.  This  sentence  was  to  be  proclaimed  every  Sun 
day  in  all  the  churches. 

The  act,  signed  in  London,  was  sent  to  Ghent,  where  King 
Edward  was  at  the  time.  Its  ratification  was  demanded,  the 
barons  on  their  part  engaging  to  join  the  king  in  Flanders, 
or  to  march  against  Scotland,  where  the  people  had  again 
risen,  according  to  his  pleasure.  During  three  days  the  pride 
of  King  Edward  resisted  ;  at  length  he  signed  the  document, 
perhaps  promising  himself  to  annul  his  concessions  afterwards. 

VOL.  i.  33 


258  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

As  soon  as  they  were  secure  in  their  victory,  the  barons  set 
out  for  Scotland. 

Edward  needed  the  support  and  good  will  of  his  English 
subjects,  for  he  had  gained  but  little  success  in  Flanders. 
After  having  with  difficulty  quelled  the  violent  rivalries  which 
had  occurred  in  his  fleet  between  the  sailors  from  different 
ports,  he  had  found  a  great  number  of  Flemish  towns  occu 
pied  by  the  French,  supported  by  a  party  powerful  in  the 
country  itself.  The  Count  Guy  had  again  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  King  of  France  ;  the  Flemish  and  English 
would  often  engage  in  struggles  against  each  other,  after 
having  fought  together  against  the  French ;  Edward's  foreign 
allies,  the  Emperor,  the  Duke  of  Austria,  and  the  Duke  of 
Brabant,  sent  no  help,  and  thought  to  have  done  their  share 
in  receiving  the  subsidies  of  England.  King  Edward  listened 
to  the  overtures  of  Pope  Boniface  VIII.,  who  was  endeavor 
ing  to  re-establish  peace.  He  left  Guy  of  Flanders  in  prison, 
where  the  latter  afterwards  died,  as  well  as  his  daughter.  He 
affianced  his  son  Edward  to  Isabel  of  France,  thus  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  misfortune  of  his  lifetime,  and  himself  mar 
ried  Princess  Margaret,  who  was  then  seventeen  years  of  age, 
contenting  himself  with  recovering  Aquitaine,  while  Guienne 
still  remained  in  the  hands  of  Philip  the  Fair.  Peace  being 
thus  concluded,  Edward  started  on  his  return  to  his  king 
dom,  where  the  position  of  affairs  imperatively  required  his 
presence. 

The  great  Scotch  noblemen  had  taken  the  oath  of  alle 
giance  to  the  King  of  England,  but  the  less  powerful  ones 
had  not  had  the  honor  of  accomplishing  that  act  of  submis 
sion.  Sir  Malcolm  Wallace,  of  Ellerslie,  had  not  taken  the 
oath,  nor  had  his  second  son,  William  Wallace,  who  was 
already  outlawed  for  the  murder  of  an  English  soldier  in 
consequence  of  a  dispute.  He  had  lived  since  then  in  the 


CHAP.X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  259 

mountains ;  but,  having  one  day  appeared  at  the  market  in 
Lanark,  the  young  man  was  insulted  by  an  Englishman, 
whom  he  killed.  He  found  a  friendly  shelter,  and  contrived 
to  escape ;  but  the  house  which  had  protected  him  was 
burned,  and  the  mistress  of  it  lost  her  life.  Wallace  swore 
to  wreak  a  terrible  revenge  upon  the  English. 

Soon  all  the  adventurers,  outlaws,  and  bold  spirits,  weary  of 
subjection,  rallied  round  Wallace.  At  the  moment  when  King 
Edward  started  for  Flanders,  the  Scottish  leader  had  already 
become  a  dangerous  partisan,  attacking  the  English  when  he 
met  them  in  small  numbers,  and  plundering  the  country 
under  their  authority.  His  forces  were  increasing  in  number ; 
many  noblemen  had  joined  him,  and  were  raising  their  stand 
ards  in  favor  of  John,  King  of  Scotland.  A  certain  number 
of  powerful  noblemen  followed  them.  Robert  Bruce  himself, 
grandson  of  him  who  had  contested  for  the  crown  with 
Baliol,  had  come  over  to  the  national  party.  "  The  Pope  will 
absolve  me  from  the  oaths  which  I  have  taken  under  compul 
sion  in  favor  of  King  Edward,"  said  the  future  deliverer  of 
Scotland.  The  Earl  of  Surrey  was  raising  forces  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  kingdom. 

When  the  two  armies  came  in  sight  near  the  town  of 
Irvine,  in  the  county  of  Ayr,  they  were  about  equal  in 
numbers  ;  but  the  English  troops  were  well  drilled  and  obe 
dient  to  a  single  general ;  Wallace's  army  was  disorderly, 
divided,  and  led  by  rival  chiefs  little  disposed  to  admit  the 
superiority  of  an  outlaw  of  low  origin.  No  encounter  took 
place.  On  the  9th  of  July,  the  great  Scotch  noblemen  laid 
down  their  arms  and  tendered  their  submission  to  King  Ed 
ward.  Only  one  baron,  Sir  Andrew  Moray  of  Bothwell, 
remained  faithful  to  the  national  party ;  but  Wallace  took 
with  him  a  large  number  of  vassals  of  the  noblemen  who 


260  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  X. 

had   surrendered,    and  his   raids   upon   the   territory  occupied 
by   the   English   became   bolder   and   bolder  every   day. 

Stirling  was  seriously  threatened  by  the  insurgents,  when 
the  Earls  of  Surrey  and  Cressingham  advanced  with  large 
forces.  The  two  parties  occupied  the  opposite  banks  of  the 
Forth ;  Wallace's  position  was  excellent,  and  he  was  offered 
terms.  "  Tell  your  master,"  he  replied  to  the  envoy,  "  that 
we  are  not  here  to  parley,  but  to  assert  our  rights  and  to 
deliver  Scotland.  Let  them  advance,  we  are  ready."  The 
English  hesitated.  Surrey  deemed  the  attack  dangerous ;  but 
Cressingham,  like  a  true  financier,  was  complaining  loudly 
of  the  ravages  made  upon  the  king's  treasury  by  an  army 
which  did  not  fight,  and  the  general  yielded.  At  daybreak, 
on  the  llth  of  September,  1297,  the  English  army  began 
marching  across  the  bridge.  It  was  narrow,  and  the  soldiers 
passed  over  it  slowly.  When  one  portion  of  the  army  had 
crossed,  Wallace  caused  the  bridge  to  be  occupied  by  a  de 
tachment,  and  he  attacked  the  English,  who  had  not  yet  had 
time  to  form  in  order  of  battle.  The  slaughter  was  fear 
ful.  Among  the  dead  bodies  was  found  Cressingham,  who 
was  odious  to  the  Scotch  by  reason  of  the  severity  of  his 
administration.  His  savage  enemies  flayed  him,  in  order  to 
preserve  his  skin  in  remembrance  of  their  revenge.  Surrey 
retreated  with  the  remainder  of  his  forces.  But  Wallace's 
success  had  delivered  Scotland  for  the  time  being ;  the  castles 
were  surrendering  in  every  direction  ;  the  popular  champion 
entered  Northumberland  and  pillaged  the  English  territory, 
while  famine  kept  them  away  from  Scotland.  When  he 
reappeared  in  his  country,  laden  with  plunder,  an  assembly 
of  noblemen  awarded  to  him  the  title  of  Governor  of  the 
Kingdom  and  Commander-in-chief  of  King  John's  forces. 
Baliol,  still  imprisoned  in  England,  smiled  bitterly  at  this 
use  of  his  name. 


CHAP.X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  261 

Meanwhile,  King  Edward  had  recrossed  the  sea,  and  his 
orders  for  the  levying  of  a  large  army  had  preceded  him. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  conqueror  of  Scotland  the  insurrection 
led  by  Wallace  was  a  rebellion,  not  a  patriotic  movement. 
No  sooner  had  he  landed  in  England  than  he  set  out  for 
the  North.  Having  halted  for  a  while  at  York,  where  he 
was  to  have  convened  a  Parliament,  the  barons  who  had 
formerly  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  popular  re 
sistance  came  and  met  him,  to  demand  the  ratification  of 
the  concessions  granted  at  Ghent.  "  By-and-by,"  cried  Ed 
ward  ;  "I  have  no  leisure  time  just  now ;  I  must  first  of 
all  reduce  the  Scotch  rebels  to  obedience."  And  he  swore 
before  three  bishops  that  he  would  occupy  himself  with  the 
liberties  of  his  English  subjects  when  he  should  have  riv 
eted  the  chains  of  his  Scottish  subjects.  Bigod  and  Bohun 
were  satisfied  with  this  promise,  and  followed  him  into 
Scotland. 

The  king's  vessels  were  delayed.  He  was  detained  between 
Edinburgh  and  Linlithgow,  when  an  insurrection  broke  out  in 
his  camp  ;  the  Welsh  troops  threatened  to  leave  him  and  to 
go  over  to  the  Scotch.  "  I  care  little,"  said  Edward,  "  if  my 
enemies  join  my  enemies  ;  I  will  punish  them  all  in  one  day." 
The  provisions  began  to  run  short,  and  a  retreat  was  spoken 
of,  when  the  Bishop  of  Durham  was  warned,  on  the  10th  of 
July,  1298,  that  the  Scotch  army  was  encamped  in  the  forest 
of  Falkirk,  and  was  preparing  to  attack  the  English  troops. 
44  Glory  be  to  God,"  cried  Edward.  "  He  has  delivered  me 
up  to  the  present  from  all  dangers.  They  need  not  follow 
me,  for  I  will  go  to  them."  And,  breaking  camp,  he 
marched  against  the  Scotch  troops.  It  is  related  that,  during 
the  night  before  the  battle,  being  asleep  by  the  side  of 
his  horse,  the  king  had  two  ribs  broken  by  a  kick  from 
the  animal.  The  circumstance  created  a  profound  sensation 


262  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

throughout  the  army ;  it  was  said  that  the  king  was  dying 
through  some  treachery.  Edward  donned  his  armor,  mounted 
his  horse,  and  continued  the  march.  The  Scotch  army  was 
at  length  in  sight.  In  front  of  them  was  a  marsh,  and  the 
archers  and  pikemen  were  protected  by  a  palisade.  When 
Wallace  saw  the  lances  of  the  enemy  glistening  in  the  sun, 
he  called  out  to  his  men,  "  I  have  led  you  to  the  dance, 
now  hop  if  you  can."  The  Scottish  infantry  valiantly  with 
stood  the  shock  of  the  two  army  corps  led  by  Bigod,  Bohun, 
and  the  bellicose  Bishop  of  Durham,  but  the  cavalry  were 
terrified  on  seeing  the  superior  forces  of  the  English,  and 
fled  in  confusion.  The  pikemen  and  archers  began  to  give 
way ;  the  palisades  were  trampled  down,  and  the  victory 
was  complete.  The  field  of  the  battle  of  Falkirk  was  strewn 
with  the  corpses  of  the  Scottish  soldiers,  when  Wallace  con 
trived  to  fall  back  upon  Stirling  with  the  remainder  of  his 
army ;  the  English  followed  him  there  ;  but  they  found  the 
town  burned  down.  Wallace  had  disappeared.  King  Edward 
was  desolating  the  country  by  fire  and  sword ;  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  towns  were  flying  at  his  approach ;  St.  An 
drew's  was  deserted  when  the  king  set  fire  to  it.  The  citi 
zens  of  Perth  burned  their  own  town.  Provisions  were  now 
scarce ;  Edward  was  obliged  to  retreat  towards  the  end  of 
September,  1298,  leaving  all  the  north  of  Scotland  in  the 
hands  of  the  patriots,  who  had  just  constituted  a  council 
of  the  regency,  at  the  head  of  which  was  John  Comyn. 
Scarcely  had  the  king  crossed  the  frontier  when  his  enemies 
threatened  Stirling  Castle.  * 

Other  troubles  awaited  Edward  in  England ;  he  had  con 
voked  the  Parliament  at  Westminster  for  the  month  of 
March,  1291 ;  the  barons  claimed  the  fulfilment  of  his  prom 
ises,  and  the  ratification  of  the  new  liberties  added  by  them 
to  the  Magna  Charta.  The  king  still  delayed,  denying  the 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  263 

validity  of  a  confirmation  made  in  a  foreign  country  ;  he  expe 
rienced,  he  said,  displeasure  at  finding  himself  thus  pressed 
to  grant  a  favor  against  his  inclination.  The  barons,  however, 
insisted ;  the  king  left  London  almost  secretly,  and  went  into 
the  country  under  pretence  of  being  indisposed;  the  barons 
followed  him  there,  renewing  their  demands.  At  length  the 
king,  wearied  of  this,  sent  to  the  Parliament  the  required 
ratification  ;  but,  with  a  puerile  want  of  good  faith,  he  added 
to  the  concessions  so  hardly  won  this  little  sentence :  "  Sav 
ing  the  rights  of  the  crown."  The  barons,  indignant,  left 
London  in  their  turn,  but  to  prepare  for  resistance.  The 
king  still  reckoned  upon  the  devotion  of  the  people  of  the 
city ;  he  ordered  the  sheriffs  to  cause  the  charter  to  be  read 
at  the  cross  of  St.  Paul's ;  an  immense  crowd  was  assembled, 
hailing  with  applause  each  of  the  clauses  which  guaranteed 
the  rights  of  the  people  ;  but  when  the  reader  came  to  the 
phrase,  "  Saving  the  rights  of  the  crown,"  his  voice  was 
drowned  by  whistling,  shouting,  and  loud  menaces.  Edward 
was  too  shrewd  and  sagacious  to  resist  the  will  of  the  people 
when  expressed  in  such  an  unmistakable  manner  ;  he  con 
vened  a  fresh  Parliament,  solemnly  ratified  all  the  concessions, 
without  mentioning  the  rights  of  the  crown,  and  nominated 
a  commission  of  three  bishops,  three  earls,  and  three  barons 
intrusted  with  the  completion  of  the  limitation  of  the  royal 
forests,  which  had  hitherto  been  extended  at  times  into  private 
property.  The  charters  of  the  forests  were  ratified  in  the  year 
1300.  Bohun  had  just  died  ;  but  Bigod  was  still  alive,  and 
the  victory  was  definitively  assured  to  the  barons,  in  spite  of 
the  efforts  which  the  king  was  still  making  to  deliver  him 
self  from  a  yoke  which  was  insupportable  to  his  haughty 
character  and  his  ambitious  projects. 

The   marriage   of  King   Edward   with   Margaret  of   France 
had  taken   place,    as   had   also   his    son's   betrothal   to   Isabel 


264  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  X. 

(September,  1299),  and  two  little  incursions  into  Scotland  had 
produced  no  other  result  than  an  intervention  on  the  part  of 
Pope  Boniface  VIII.  in  favor  of  the  Scotch,  by  virtue  of 
the  rights  which  he  claimed  over  that  kingdom.  Although 
haughtily  refusing  to  recognize  this  strange  pretension,  the 
King  of  England  had  three  times  granted  a  truce  to  the  in 
surgents.  The  third  had  just  expired,  when  the  treaty  of 
Montreuil,  made  between  England  and  France  on  the  30th 
of  May,  1303,  gave  up  Guienne  to  Edward,  who  abandoned 
his  Flemish  allies  as  Philip  the  Fair  did  his  Scottish  allies. 
Freed  from  care  on  the  score  of  continental  affairs,  Edward, 
on  the  day  following  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  marched 
into  Scotland ;  he  was  already  at  Edinburgh  on  the  4th  of 
June,  and  his  march  across  the  northern  counties  resembled 
a  triumphal  progress ;  all  the  fortresses  opened  their  gates ; 
Buchan  Castle  alone  remained  closed.  While  the  English 
were  attacking  the  castle  with  their  engines  of  war,  Sir 
Thomas  Maule,  the  governor,  walked  up  and  down  on  the 
ramparts,  with  a  handkerchief  in  his  hand,  wiping  off  the 
dust  raised  by  the  battering-rams.  On  the  twentieth  day 
of  the  siege  he  was  struck  with  an  arrow,  and,  dying,  he 
stigmatized  the  soldiers  as  cowards,  when  they  asked  his 
permission  to  surrender.  Scarcely  had  the  valiant  champion 
breathed  his  last  when  his  castle  was  given  up  to  the  English 
forces.  The  king  established  himself  in  winter-quarters  in 
the  abbey  of  Dunfermline,  and  it  was  there  that  the  Scotch 
barons  came  to  negotiate  for  peace ;  each  one  had  drawn  up 
his  own  conditions ;  Wallace  had  disappeared  since  the  battle 
of  Falkirk ;  the  noblemen  had  supplanted  him  in  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  country  which  he  had  delivered  without  their 
aid.  The  king  caused  a  proclamation  to  be  made  that  the 
outlaw  was  to  surrender  at  discretion ;  Wallace,  however,  took 
no  notice,  but  remained  in  the  mountains.  The  castle  of 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTOKUM.  265 

Stirling  now  alone  offered  any  resistance,  in  spite  of  the  in 
junctions  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  assembled  by  Edward  ; 
when  Sir  William  Oliphant,  who  commanded  it,  was  com 
pelled  to  surrender  on  the  26th  of  July,  1304. 

A  last  blow  was  about  to  strike  the  patriotic  party  in 
Scotland.  Wallace,  betrayed  by  his  friend  Monteith,  was  de 
livered  into  the  hands  of  the  English  in  the  month  of  August, 
1305.  King  Edward  had  not  the  generosity  to  pardon  the 
proud  patriot  who  had  so  long  resisted  him.  Wallace  had 
broken  no  oath,  he  had  never  sworn  allegiance  to  King  Ed 
ward,  and  he  had  fought  for  the  independence  of  his  country, 
but  he  was  nevertheless  condemned  to  suffer  a  traitor's  death. 
He  was  executed  at  Smithfield  on  the  23d  of  August,  and 
the  portions  of  his  dismembered  body  were  sent  to  different 
towns  in  Scotland,  where  the  people  were  more  inclined  to 
treat  them  as  sacred  relics  than  to  consider  them  as  emblems 
of  disgrace.  Wallace  had  kindled  a  fire  which  was  not  des 
tined  to  die  out,  and  it  was  in  vain  that  Edward  had  thought 
to  stifle  it  by  severe  punishment. 

Scarcely  had  the  government  of  Scotland  been  regulated  by  a 
commission  of  Scottish  prelates  and  barons,  pursuing  their  labors 
in  London  in  conjunction  with  delegates  from  the  English  Par 
liament,  when  a  fresh  insurrection  broke  out  in  Scotland ;  a 
new  chief  presented  himself  for  the  cause  of  independence,  one 
who  was  destined  to  achieve  the  task  begun  by  Wallace ;  it 
was  Robert  Bruce,  Earl  of  Carrick. 

For  a  long  time  Bruce  had  vacillated  between  the  two 
parties ;  having  been  engaged  during  his  youth  in  the  service 
of  Edward  by  his  father,  he  had  sworn  allegiance,  then  vio 
lated  his  oath,  and  had  finally  determined  to  observe  his  old 
professions.  At  length,  after  the  fall  of  Baliol,  he  had  pro 
posed  to  Comyn,  surnamed  the  Red,  a  powerful  Scottish  lord, 
and  one  of  his  neighbors,  that  whichever  of  the  two  should 

VOL.  I.  34 


266  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

establish  his  claim  to  the  crown  should  cede  his  estates  to 
the  other  by  way  of  indemnity.  Comyn  had  pretended  to 
accept  the  bargain,  but  he  had  secretly  warned  Edward  of 
the  conspiracy.  Bruce,  who  was  in  England,  was  about  to  be 
arrested,  in  spite  of  his  kinship  to  the  royal  family  (he  had 
married  Joan  of  Valence,  Edward's  cousin),  when  Gilbert  de 
Clare  sent  a  pair  of  spurs  to  him  by  a  messenger.  Bruce  took 
the  hint,  and  immediately  mounted  his  horse ;  he  did  not 
know  what  danger  threatened  him,  or  who  had  betrayed  him, 
and  he  was  careful  to  conceal  his  traces,  when  he  met  a  ser 
vant  of  Comyn,  who  was  carrying  fresh  communications  to 
Edward.  Having  seized  the  missives,  and  assured  himself  of 
Comyn's  treachery,  Bruce  hastened  back  to  Scotland.  A  few 
days  later,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1306,  these  two  enemies 
met  at  Dumfries,  and  Bruce  called  Comyn  into  a  chapel  of 
the  Minorites,  in  order  to  demand  an  explanation  of  his  con 
duct.  They  were  alone ;  the  dispute  became  furious ;  Bruce 
drew  his  dagger  and  struck  Comyn,  who  fell  upon  the  steps 
of  the  high  altar.  Pale  and  agitated,  Bruce  left  the  chapel 
hurriedly ;  his  haggard  appearance  struck  his  friends  who 
were  in  attendance  upon  him.  "  What  have  you  done  ? " 
Kirkpatrick  of  Closeburn  asked  him.  "I  doubt  I  have  killed 
Comyn."  "  You  doubt,"  cried  Kirkpatrick  ;  "  then  I  will 
make  sure  of  it."  And,  re-entering  the  holy  place,  he  struck 
the  wounded  man  another  blow,  killed  the  latter's  uncle,  Sir 
Robert  Comyn,  who  tried  to  defend  his  nephew,  and  returned 
to  Bruce.  The  little  band  hurried  away  at  a  gallop.  Bruce 
had  only  one  course  before  him  now :  he  was  henceforth  an 
outlaw,  and  the  boldest  action  became  necessary ;  the  fire 
was  smouldering  in  all  the  noble  hearts  of  Scotland.  As  soon 
as  Bruce  raised  the  standard  of  independence,  some  priests 
and  lords  gathered  round  him,  and  boldly  crowned  him  at 
Scone.  On  the  day  of  the  Annunciation  (1306)  Scotland 


BRUCE   WARNED   BY   GILBERT   DE   CLARE. 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  267 

had  a  king.  Edward  I.  heard  of  it  at  Winchester  a  few 
days  later. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  King  of  England  Bruce  was  a  rebel, 
and  was,  moreover,  a  man  who  must  be  punished  for  having 
committed  sacrilege.  He  sent  a  small  army  into  Scotland, 
under  the  command  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and,  tired  and 
sick  as  he  was,  began  to  make  extensive  preparations  for 
marching  personally  against  the  insurgents.  Prince  Edward, 
his  son,  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  had  not  yet  been 
Knighted.  On  the  23d  of  May,  during  Whitsuntide,  the 
young  man,  having  received  his  spurs  from  the  hands  of  his 
father,  conferred  the  same  distinction  upon  two  hundred  and 
seventy  young  lords,  companions  of  his  pleasures,  who  were 
about  to  become  his  comrades  in  arms.  All  the  company 
then  met  at  a  magnificent  banquet ;  a  golden  net  was  placed 
upon  the  table,  containing  two  swans,  emblems  of  constancy 
and  fidelity;  then  the  king,  placing  his  hands  upon  their 
heads,  swore  to  avenge  the  death  of  Corny n,  and  to  punish 
the  rebels  of  Scotland,  without  sleeping  for  two  nights  in  the 
same  place,  and  to  start  immediately  afterwards  for  Palestine, 
in  order  to  rescue  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  young  men  swore 
the  same  oath  as  the  king,  and  the  latter  made  them  promise, 
if  he  should  die  during  the  war  in  Scotland,  not  to  bury  his 
body  until  the  conquest  should  have  been  achieved.  The 
prince  immediately  afterwards  started  for  the  frontiers  with 
his  companions ;  the  king  followed  less  rapidly,  as  he  could 
only  travel  upon  a  litter. 

Meanwhile  Bruce's  forces  had  increased  rapidly;  the  mal 
contents  —  and  they  were  very  numerous  —  were  beginning  to 
declare  themselves  and  to  rally  round  the  new  king.  When 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  arrived  in  Scotland  the  insurgents  were 
in  high  spirits ;  but  a  battle  was  fought  on  the  19th  of  June, 
near  the  woods  of  Methven,  which  destroyed  suddenly  their 


268  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

illusions ;  many  Scots  were  killed  ;  the  prisoners  were  put  to 
death,  and  Bruce  retired  into  the  mountains  of  Athol  with 
five  hundred  men.  Too  ill  to  proceed  further,  King  Edward 
had  been  obliged  to  stop  at  Carlisle  ;  but  he  was  directing  all 
the  operations  of  his  troops,  and  ordering  the  execution  of 
the  prisoners,  thus  bearing  witness  to  his  deep-rooted  resent 
ment  against  Scotland.  Bruce  was  leading  the  life  of  a  knight- 
errant  in  the  forests,  hunting  and  fishing,  accompanied  only 
by  a  few  faithful  friends ;  his  wife,  his  two  sisters,  and  the 
Countess  of  Buchan  shared  with  him  his  adventurous  exist 
ence,  which  the  fine  weather  rendered  tolerable,  even  in 
Scotland. 

Meanwhile,  winter  was  coming  on,  and  it  became  necessary 
to  enter  into  more  civilized  quarters.  Bruce's  little  band 
was  attacked  by  Lord  Lorn,  the  Red  Comyn's  nephew,  and 
a  mortal  enemy  of  Bruce.  The  King  of  Scotland's  compan 
ions  were  falling  under  the  battle-axes  of  Lochaber ;  he 
sounded  the  retreat,  arid,  clad  in  armor  and  mounted  upon 
a  good  war-horse,  he  took  up  his  position  in  the  defile,  and 
defended  the  approach  single-handed.  Lorn's  mountaineers 
hesitated,  being  terrified  at  this  motionless  figure,  the  long 
sword  always  on  guard,  and  the  bright  eyes  glittering  under 
the  helmet.  At  length  three  men,  a  father  and  two  sons, 
named  MacAndrosser,  famous  in  their  clan  for  their  strength 
and  courage,  sprang  forward  together  upon  the  royal  cham 
pion :  one  seized  the  bridle  of  the  horse,  and  his  arm  fell 
at  his  side,  his  hand  being  severed ;  another  fastened  himself 
to  the  leg  of  the  horseman  ;  the  horse  reared,  and  the  unfor 
tunate  warrior  had  his  head  split  open  by  a  sword-stroke  ;  the 
father  who  was  more  skilful,  and  who  was  besides  maddened 
at  the  fate  of  his  sons,  was  clutching  the  king's  cloak ;  he  was 
still  holding  to  it  after  his  death,  and  Bruce  was  compelled  to 
leave  in  the  hands  of  the  corpse  this  token  of  so  desperate 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  269 

a  struggle.  The  king  had  escaped  without  being  wounded, 
but  it  was  necessary  to  place  his  wife  and  sisters  in  safety, 
and  the  castle  of  Keldrummie  afforded  them  a  shelter,  while 
Bruce  took  refuge  in  the  Hebrides.  The  separation  was 
doomed  to  be  a  sad  and  long  one,  for  the  castle  was  taken, 
and  Nigel  Bruce,  Robert's  younger  brother,  was  cruelly  put 
to  death  ;  the  Queen  of  Scotland  was  sent  to  England,  and 
Bruce's  sisters-in-law,  shut  up  in  wooden  cages,  were  exposed 
to  the  public  gaze  at  Berwick  and  Roxburgh.  Whenever 
any  of  the  adherents  of  Bruce  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
English  troops,  they  were  put  to  death.  The  king  himself, 
who  was  now  excommunicated  and  proscribed,  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  little  island  of  Rachrin ;  his  retreat  was  un 
known  to  his  enemies,  and  a  reward  was  offered  in  Scot 
land  to  whoever  would  give  news  of  Robert  Bruce,  lost, 
strayed,  or  stolen. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1307  that  Bruce  suddenly  reap 
peared,  supported  by  some  ships  which  had  been  lent  to  him 
by  Christiana,  Lady  of  the  Isles.  Deceived  by  a  false  indi 
cation,  he  attacked  Henry  Percy,  to  whom  King  Edward  had 
recently  given  the  castle  of  Carrick,  Bruce's  own  property ; 
and,  taking  his  enemies  by  surprise,  he  defeated  them,  caused 
great  slaughter,  and  returned  in  triumph  into  the  castle,  which 
he  could  not  hold  for  any  length  of  time,  surrounded  as  he 
was  on  all  sides,  not  only  by  the  English  forces,  but  by  his 
personal  enemies,  and  all  the  family  of  the  Red  Comyn. 

The  capture  of  Carrick  Castle  was  nevertheless  Robert's 
first  step  upon  the  ladder  of  fortune  ;  but  yesterday  a  fugi 
tive,  he  was  rejoined  by  his  scattered  supporters :  after  his 
success,  warriors  who  previously  had  been  undecided,  em 
braced  the  cause  of  Bruce,  and  his  forces  became  so  for 
midable,  that  Edward,  infuriated  at  these  events,  resolved  to 
leave  Carlisle  to  march  in  person  against  the  rebels.  He  caused 


270  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

his  litter  to  be  hung  up  in  York  Cathedral  in  memory  of  his 
sickness,  and  was  about  to  mount  his  horse,  when  he  heard 
that  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  had  been  defeated,  on  the  10th 
of  May,  by  Bruce  at  Loudon  Hill.  The  rage  of  the  king  lent 
him  strength  for  a  while ;  he  started  from  Carlisle  at  the 
head  of  a  large  corps ;  but  the  journey  was  cut  short,  Edward 
being  obliged  to  stop.  He  was  not  more  than  three  leagues 
from  Carlisle  when  death  came  and  chilled  the  proud  heart 
and  the  indomitable  spirit,  once  animated  by  the  noblest  and 
most  chivalrous  desires,  but  for  several  years  absorbed  in 
ambitious  projects  and  cruel  schemes  of  revenge.  His  last 
words  were  a  recommendation  to  his  son  to  finish  the  task 
which  had  been  begun,  to  be  good  to  his  young  brothers,  and 
to  maintain  three  hundred  knights  in  the  Holy  Land.  When 
he  was  buried  at  Westminster,  an  inscription  was  placed 
upon  his  tomb,  covered  by  a  block  of  stone  brought  from 
Palestine :  — 

EDUARDUS   PRIMUS.      MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.       MCCCVII.     PACTUM   SERVA. 
Edward  I.  The  Hammer  of  the  Scots.        1307.      Keep  the  Covenant. 

Among  the  sovereigns  who  had  governed  England,  very 
few  had  held  the  power  with  a  firmer  hand  than  Edward  I., 
very  few,  however,  saw  the  foundation  of  more  liberties.  In 
vain,  in  1307,  when  the  king  had  thought  the  conquest  of 
Scotland  assured,  had  he  hoped  to  effect  his  deliverance  from 
the  yoke  which  his  people  had  imposed  upon  him;  in  vain 
had  he  obtained  from  the  Pope  a  bull  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1305,  which  relieved  him  of  his  oaths  and  annulled  the  char 
ters  which  he  had  ratified,  forbidding  any  one,  under  pain  of 
excommunication,  to  claim  their  fulfilment ;  in  vain,  Bohun 
being  dead,  had  Edward's  threats  succeeded  in  intimidating 
old  Bigod  and  his  faithful  ally,  the  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury  ;  the  attitude  taken  up  by  the  entire  nation  had  caused 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  271 

the  king  to  hesitate,  and  he  had  not  yet  made  public  the 
Papal  bull,  when  the  insurrection  in  Scotland  absorbed  all 
his  attention,  and  necessitated  the  assistance  of  Parliament. 
The  liberties  acquired  by  the  barons  now  had  a  durable  guar 
anty  ;  the  great  lords  were  not  obliged  to  resort  incessantly 
to  arms,  Parliaments  having  been  instituted.  We  have  seen 
the  deputies  of  the  towns  summoned  to  Parliament  for  the 
first  time  by  the  Earl  of  Leicester ;  under  King  Edward  I. 
the  barons  began  to  hold  their  deliberations  separately,  and 
the  knights  from  the  shires  and  the  deputies  from  the  towns, 
who  were  summoned  less  frequently,  formed  a  second  cham 
ber.  From  this  time  dates  the  origin  of  the  House  of  Lords 
and  the  House  of  Commons.  The  most  complete  Parliament 
which  had  yet  sat  was  that  of  1295,  convened  by  King 
Edward  before  his  campaign  in  Flanders:  an  Ecclesiastical 
Parliament  had  been  convoked  at  the  same  time.  The  sub 
sidies  which  were  then  granted,  and  which  the  king  endeavored 
to  increase  by  acts  of  extortion,  were  the  cause  of  the  op 
position  of  Bigod  and  Bohun ;  at  the  death  of  Edward,  the 
charters  had  been  so  firmly  established  in  England,  that  no 
monarch  dreamed  of  disturbing  them  again,  until  the  un 
happy  days  of  Charles  I.  The  liberties  of  the  nation  were 
assured  by  the  frequent  meeting  of  the  Parliaments,  their 
faithful  and  natural  guardians.  The  constitution  of  England 
was  founded. 

The  burdensome  inheritance  left  by  the  king  who  had  just 
died  fell  into  hands  too  feeble  to  support  it.  Edward  II. 
was  twenty-three  years  of  age  when  he  succeeded  his  father ; 
the  latter  had  had  six  sons,  three  only  of  whom  survived 
him ;  the  young  king  had  already  shown  signs  of  frivolity 
and  obstinacy  which  augured  the  misfortunes  of  his  reign. 
Brought  up  from  childhood  with  a  young  Aquitanian,  Piers 
Gaveston,  he  had  conceived  for  this  companion  so  strong  an 


272  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  X. 

affection  that  the  king,  his  father,  had  been  alarmed  thereat, 
and  had  on  several  occasions  banished  the  young  favorite. 
At  the  death  of  Edward  I.  Gaveston  was  in  exile  ;  but  at  the 
news  of  the  accession  of  his  young  master,  he  hastened  to 
him,  and  the  first  act  of  the  king  was  to  confer  upon  him  the 
Earldom  of  Cornwall,  which  had  previously  been  deemed  a 
position  sufficiently  conspicuous  for  the  princes  of  the  blood 
royal.  Edward  did  not  content  himself  with  this :  while  he 
was  pretending  to  carry  on  the  campaign  in  Scotland,  the 
great  officers  of  the  crown  had  been  changed  ;  the  Lord  Treas 
urer,  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  was  even  deprived  of  his  prop 
erty,  and  cast  into  prison.  In  spite  of  the  oath  which  the 
old  king  had  exacted  from  his  son,  the  latter  had  returned 
to  London  to  inter  his  father,  leaving  Bruce  free  to  pursue 
his  success.  Gaveston,  who  had  lately  married  Margaret,  a 
niece  of  the  king,  was  appointed  regent  of  the  kingdom  in  the 
month  of  January,  1308,  by  the  king,  who  went  over  to  France 
to  marry  the  Princess  Isabel,  according  to  Froissart,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  women  in  the  world. 

King  Philip  the  Fair  had  just  caused  the  dissolution  of 
the  order  of  Templars  in  France,  an  iniquitous  proceeding 
inspired  rather  by  the  prince's  greed  than  by  the  offences  of 
the  order.  Philip  thereby  obtained  for  the  King  of  England 
the  dowry  promised  to  the  latter,  and  persuaded  him,  without 
great  difficulty,  to  withhold  his  protection  from  the  Templars 
established  in  England,  who  were  prosecuted  a  short  time 
afterwards.  Edward  made  sail  on  the  7th  of  February  to 
return  to  England  ;  he  was  accompanied  by  a  numerous  suite 
of  French  noblemen,  at  the  head  of  whom  were  two  uncles 
of  the  Queen.  Gaveston  came  to  meet  the  king.  As  soon 
as  Edward  perceived  him,  forgetting  his  young  wife  and  his 
noble  followers,  he  threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  his  favor 
ite,  embracing  him,  and  calling  him  his  brother,  to  the  great 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  273 

indignation  of  Isabel  and  all  the  beholders.  Their  indigna 
tion  was  increased  when  they  saw  Gaveston  decked  out  with 
all  the  jewels  which  the  King  of  France  had  recently  presented 
to  Edward.  But  the  discontent  rose  to  its  height,  when,  at 
the  ceremony  of  the  coronation,  which  took  place  with  great 
splendor  on  the  14th  of  February,  Piers  Gaveston,  as  the 
people  persisted  in  calling  him,  in  spite  of  his  elevation  to 
the  Earldom  of  Cornwall,  was  intrusted  with  the  task  of 
carrying  before  the  king  the  crown  of  St.  Edward,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  highest  noblemen  of  the  kingdom,  who  were 
all  anxious  for  this  honor. 

Isabel  had  already  begun  to  complain  to  her  father  of  her 
husband  and  of  the  favorite,  when  the  barons  came  to  the 
king  four  days  after  his  coronation.  uSire,"  they  said,  "send 
back  this  stranger  who  has  no  business  here."  The  king 
promised  to  give  his  reply  on  the  assembling  of  Parliament 
after  Easter ;  meanwhile  he  endeavored  to  lessen  the  resent 
ment  of  the  noblemen  towards  his  friend.  But  Piers  was 
most  imprudent,  frivolous,  and  vain  ;  he  loved  to  make  a 
show  of  his  talent  for  chivalrous  exercises,  and  overthrew 
successively  from  their  horses  in  several  tournaments  the 
Earls  of  Lancaster,  Hereford,  Pembroke,  and  Warren,  whose 
wounded  pride  was  added  to  the  many  serious  causes  of 
resentment  against  the  favorite.  On  the  assembling  of  Par 
liament,  the  annoyance  of  the  barons  was  so  great  that  the 
king  was  constrained  to  give  way  and  to  banish  Gaveston ; 
he  loaded  him  with  presents  on  his  departure,  giving  him 
all  the  jewels  which  he  had  received  from  Queen  Isabel,  and 
accompanied  him  as  far  as  Bristol  to  bid  farewell  to  him. 
Gaveston  was  believed  to  be.  in  Aquitaine,  when  news  came 
that  the  king  had  appointed  him  governor  of  Ireland,  and 
that  Gaveston  had  just  established  himself  there  with  a  degree 
of  splendor  almost  regal. 

VOL.  i.  35 


274  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  X. 

The  king  longed  to  recall  his  favorite  ;  he  lavished  favors 
upon  the  great  lords  in  order  to  win  them  over,  and,  when 
he  had  been  relieved  by  the  Pope  of  the  oath  which  he  had 
taken  never  to  recall  Gavestoii  to  England,  he  sent  for  his 
friend,  and  went  as  far  as  Chester  to  meet  him,  publicly  an 
nouncing  that  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  had  been  unjustly  ban 
ished,  and  that  justice  demanded  a  fresh  examination  of  his 
conduct.  On  the  other  hand,  the  barons  declared  that  the 
king  had  violated  his  oath,  and  would  not  scruple  to  break 
all  those  which  he  had  sworn  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
public  liberties.  The  discontent  was  increasing  ;  the  queen 
complained  of  the  desertion  of  her  husband  ;  the  Countess  of 
Cornwall  was  representing  to  her  brother,  the  Earl  of  Glouces 
ter,  Gaveston's  unworthy  conduct  towards  her ;  the  king  and 
his  favorite  did  not  heed  the  storm  which  was  about  to  burst ; 
feasts,  dances,  and  tournaments  succeeded  each  other  without 
intermission  at  the  court.  The  king's  funds  had  meanwhile 
run  low,  when,  in  the  month  of  August,  1311,  he  found 
himself  compelled  to  convene  Parliament  at  Westminster. 

The  barons  came,  discontented  and  resolute  ;  the  old  Arch 
bishop  Winchelsea  had  exhorted  them  to  deliver  the  kingdom 
from  the  power  of  the  favorite  ;  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  when 
dying,  had  sent  for  his  son-in-law,  the  Earl  of  Lancaster. 
"Do  not  abandon  England  to  the  king  and  the  Pope,"  he 
had  said ;  "  do  as  the  ancient  barons  did,  and  stand  firmly 
by  your  privileges."  Scarcely  had  the  barons  arrived  at  West 
minster,  when  they  renewed  the  stipulations  of  the  "Mad 
Parliament"  of  Oxford;  they  demanded  the  formation  of  a 
temporal  council  intrusted  with  the  task  of  providing  for  the 
government  of  the  kingdom.  One  of  the  clauses  in  the  new 
concessions  forced  from  the  king  was  that  he  should  be  com 
pelled  to  convoke  Parliament  at  least  once  a  year. 

The    barons    had    brought    with    them    their    men-at-arms. 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  275 

Edward  II.  signed  all  that  they  demanded,  and  Gaveston  was 
once  more  obliged  to  leave  the  country.  The  king  had  pro 
ceeded  to  the  North,  and  was  busy  raising  an  army,  when  his 
favorite  suddenly  appeared  at  his  side.  Such  daring  was  be 
yond  endurance.  The  Earl  of  Lancaster,  the  king's  cousin, 
came  unexpectedly  upon  Edward  ;  the  king  only  had  time  to 
escape  with  Gaveston,  leaving  the  queen  in  the  hands  of  the 
barons,  who  treated  her  with  great  respect.  The  king  and 
his  friend  had  set  out  in  a  little  bark ;  they  landed  at  Scar 
borough,  and  Piers  shut  himself  up  in  the  fortress  there,  while 
the  king  proceeded  to  York  in  the  hope  of  joining  his  army. 
But  the  barons  had  already  set  out  for  Scarborough.  Being 
besieged  in  the  castle,  Gaveston  surrendered  on  the  17th  of 
May,  to  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  and  Lord  Henry  Percy,  who 
promised  to  spare  his  life,  and  undertook  to  take  him  to  his 
castle  of  Wallingford.  The  little  band  started  on  their  jour 
ney;  but  when  they  arrived  at  Dedington,  the  Earl  of  Pem 
broke  had  left  his  prisoner  to  go  and  see  his  wife,  who  was 
in  the  neighborhood.  On  the  morning  of  the  19th,  Gaveston 
received  orders  to  dress  himself  at  once ;  he  descended  into 
the  courtyard,  and  found  that  his  guards  had  been  changed  ; 
the  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  "  black  dog  of  the  Ardennes," 
as  the  favorite  called  him  when  jesting  with  the  king,  had 
arrived  during  the  night ;  the  prisoner  was  tied  on  the 
back  of  a  mule  and  led  to  Warwick  Castle.  The  Earl  of 
Lancaster  was  there.  Piers  was  accustomed  to  call  this  noble 
man  the  "old  boar,"  but  he  now  threw  himself  at  his  feet 
begging  for  mercy.  The  judges  were  inflexible ;  the  sem 
blance  of  a  trial  was  soon  over,  and  the  unlucky  Piers  was 
conducted  to  Blacklow  Hill,  between  Warwick  and  Coventry, 
where  a  scaffold  had  been  erected  ;  the  executioners  hesitated 
for  a  moment  to  accomplish  so  horrible  a  deed.  "  You  have 
caught  the  fox ;  if  you  let  him  go,  you  will  have  to  give 


276  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  X. 

chase  to  him  again,"  cried  a  voice  from  among  the  crowd,  and 
the  favorite's  head  fell.     He  was  only  thirty-three  years  of  age. 

While  Edward  II.  was  mourning  his  murdered  friend, 
Robert  Bruce  was  slowly  conquering  Scotland.  Twice  had 
the  King  of  England  attempted  an  expedition  in  support  of 
the  power  which  was  slipping  from  his  hands,  and  twice  he 
had  returned  without  result ;  the  authority  of  Bruce  was 
being  established  everywhere  in  his  country ;  the  castles  of 
Perth,  Jedburgh,  Dunbar,  Edinburgh  were  in  his  hands ;  he 
was  besieging  the  fortress  of  Stirling,  when  the  governor,  Sir 
Philip  Mowbray,  contrived  to  make  his  appeals  for  succor 
reach  the  king.  Edward  aroused  himself  for  a  moment  from 
his  natural  indolence,  and  raised  a  large  army  to  march 
against  Scotland ;  he  started  from  Berwick  on  the  llth  of 
June,  1313. 

The  forces  of  the  King  of  England  amounted,  it  is  said, 
to  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  men  ;  while  they  were  march 
ing  with  their  banners  flying,  the  sun,  which  was  glistening 
upon  the  armor  and  the  lances,  appeared  to  inundate  the 
country  with  a  flood  of  light.  King  Robert  was  concealed  in 
the  forests  with  an  army  of  forty  thousand  men,  nearly  all  on 
foot,  awaiting  the  enemy,  and  preparing  barriers  which  were 
intended  to  check  the  onslaught  of  the  English  troops,  on 
the  only  spot  open  to  attack.  On  the  morning  of  the  23d 
of  June,  1313,  the  two  armies  met  near  Bannockburn. 

The  English  had  hastened  their  march,  and  had  arrived  in 
some  disorder,  in  front  of  the  Scottish  army.  Lord  Clifford, 
who  had  attempted  an  ambuscade,  was  repulsed  by  Randolph, 
Earl  of  Moray,  nephew  of  King  Robert  and  one  of  his  best 
knights.  The  king  himself,  with  a  golden  crown  on  his  helmet, 
was  riding  slowly  along  the  line  of  his  troops ;  a  relative 
of  the  Earl  of  Hereford,  Sir  Henry  Bohun,  sprang  forward 
against  the  "  Scottish  traitor,"  reckoning  upon  throwing  him 


CHAP.X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  277 

by  the  weight  of  his  horse  alone,  for  Bruce  was  mounted 
upon  one  of  the  small  horses  of  the  country. 

The  king  did  not  expect  the  shock  ;  he  turned,  however, 
with  great  skill,  and  Bohnn's  lance  passed  close  by  his  side 
without  inflicting  any  injury  upon  him  ;  raising  himself  up 
in  his  stirrups  and  displaying  his  gigantic  figure,  he  struck 
the  rash  Englishman  a  terrible  blow  with  his  battle-axe;  the 
helmet  was  shattered  by  his  powerful  arm,  and  Sir  Henry 
Bohun,  whose  skull  was  fractured,  was  carried  off  by  his  horse 
dead.  Bruce  returned  slowly  to  the  spot  where  the  greater 
part  of  his  forces  was  concentrated ;  while  his  friends  were 
surrounding  him,  reproaching  him  for  running  so  great  a 
risk,  the  Scottish  hero  was  looking  sorrowfully  at  his  notched 
axe,  and  laughingly  answered,  "  I  have  spoiled  my  good 
battle-axe." 

The  night  had  been  passed  in  prayer  in  the  Scottish  camp, 
and  in  feasting  and  debauchery  by  the  English.  King  Edward 
did  not  expect  a  battle,  and  held  his  forces  assembled  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  render  any  manoeuvres  impossible.  At 
daybreak,  the  young  king  was  astonished  at  the  good  order 
observed  in  the  Scottish  ranks.  "  Do  you  think  they  will 
fight  ?  "  he  asked  of  his  marshal,  Sir  Ingletram  d'Umfreville. 
At  the  same  moment,  the  Abbot  Maurice  of  Inchaffray  ap 
peared  before  the  Scottish  troops,  holding  a  crucifix  in  his 
hand  :  all  bent  their  knees,  all  uncovered  their  heads.  "  They 
are  asking  for  mercy,"  cried  Edward.  Umfreville  smiled 
bitterly.  "  Of  God  ;  not  of  you,  Sire,"  said  he  ;  "  these  men 
will  win  the  battle,  or  die  at  their  posts."  "  So  be  it ! " 
replied  the  king,  as  he  gave  the  signal  for  the  attack. 

The  struggle  was  furious  from  the  commencement.  The 
Earls  of  Gloucester  and  Hereford  rushed  upon  the  Scottish 
infantry,  which  remained  firm ;  the  long  lances  withstood  the 
onslaught  of  the  English  knights;  Randolph  advanced  steadily 


278  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

with  his  picked  troops ;  Keith  was  attacking,  with  five  hun 
dred  mounted  men-at-arms,  the  English  archers,  who  could 
not  fight  at  close  quarters,  and  were  trampled  under  foot  by 
the  horses.  Banners  were  torn,  and  lances  and  swords  were 
shattered  to  pieces ;  the  feet  of  the  combatants  were  slipping 
in  the  blood  ;  the  majority  of  the  English  began  to  hesitate. 
"  They  fly  !  they  fly  !  "  cried  the  Scotch.  At  the  same  moment 
a  loud  noise  was  heard  behind  them  upon  the  hill ;  the  camp- 
followers  and  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  excited  by  the 
ardor  of  the  struggle,  were  descending  in  a  mass  towards  the 
scene  of  action.  The  English  imagined  themselves  attacked 
by  a  fresh  army;  a  disorderly  retreat  had  begun,  when  Rob 
ert  Bruce,  charging  with  his  reserve,  decided  the  fate  of  the 
day  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt.  The  Earl  of  Gloucester 
was  killed  while  attacking  Edward  Bruce,  Robert's  brother. 
Clifford  and  twenty-seven  other  barons  fell  by  the  king's  side ; 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  seized  the  bridle  of  Edward's  horse  and 
dragged  him  away  from  the  battlefield.  Sir  Giles  d'Argen- 
tine  accompanied  him  out  of  the  crowd,  then  retraced  his 
steps,  exclaiming,  "  It  is  not  my  custom  to  fly ! "  and  he  was 
killed  by  Bruce's  soldiers. 

Never  had  a  victory  been  more  complete :  the  fortress 
of  Stirling  surrendered  immediately  ;  the  Earl  of  Hereford, 
who  had  shut  himself  up  in  Bothwell  Castle,  offered  to 
capitulate,  and  was  exchanged  for  the  wife,  the  sister,  and 
the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Scotland,  who  had  been  detained 
for  several  years  in  England.  There  still  remained  a  great 
deal  of  territory  to  conquer,  but  the  work  of  Edward  the 
First  was  destroyed,  and  Scotland  was  no  longer  a  depend 
ency  of  England. 

Edward  Bruce's  ambition  was  not  satisfied  ;  he  had  as 
sisted  his  brother  in  conquering  a  kingdom,  and  he  now 
wished  to  secure  a  crown  for  himself.  On  the  23d  of  May, 


ROBERT   BRUCE   REGRETTING   HIS   BATTLE-AXE. 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  279 

1315,  while  England  was  beginning  to  feel  the  miseries  of  a 
famine  which  was  soon  to  be  followed  by  a  plague,  he  landed 
at  Carriekfergus  in  Ireland,  at  the  head  of  six  thousand  men. 
He  was  soon  joined  by  a  large  number  of  Irish  chiefs ;  and 
they  then  proceeded  to  ravage  the  territory  of  the  English 
colonists  there,  pillaging  and  burning  down  the  towns ;  at 
length  he  caused  himself  to  be  crowned  King  of  Ireland  on 
the  2d  of  May,  1316.  His  brother  Robert  came  to  his  assist 
ance,  and,  in  spite  of  the  resistance  of  the  English,  who  held 
Dublin  and  several  other  important  towns,  the  invading  army 
overran  the  whole  of  Ireland.  The  northern  portion  of  the 
country  had  been  completely  subjected  by  Edward  Bruce, 
when  King  Robert  was  called  back  to  his  kingdom  in  con 
sequence  of  the  incursions  of  the  English.  Nineteen  pitched 
battles,  besides  numberless  skirmishes,  had  been  fought,  and 
had  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  rash  conqueror,  when, 
on  the  5th  of  October,  1318,  Edward  Bruce  was  at  length 
defeated  and  killed  at  Fagher,  near  Dundalk,  and  the  little 
body  of  Scots  who  escaped  returned  to  Scotland.  The  death 
of  one  man  had  sufficed  to  overthrow  the  fragile  edifice 
which  for  three  years  he  had  been  striving  to  raise.  The 
independence  of  Scotland  was  more  firmly  established  than 
the  conquest  of  Ireland. 

Berwick  had  at  length  fallen  into  the  power  of  the  Scotch. 
King  Edward  II.  resolved,  in  1319,  to  make  a  fresh  effort 
to  regain  that  town  and  to  recommence  his  attempts  against 
Scotland.  On  the  1st  of  September  he  laid  siege  to  Ber 
wick,  by  land  and  by  sea  ;  but  while  he  was  detained  by  the 
obstinate  resistance  of  the  Lord  Stewart  of  Scotland,  Douglas 
and  Randolph,  King  Robert's  most  faithful  companions,  had 
crossed  the  borders  into  England  with  fifteen  thousand  men, 
carrying  their  ravages  as  far  as  York,  so  that  Edward  was 
obliged  to  abandon  Berwick,  to  march  against  the  invaders 


280  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

of  his  dominions.  The  Scots  escaped  from  him,  and  re-entered 
their  country.  A  truce  of  two  years  was  concluded,  and 
in  1323,  after  several  renewals  of  hostilities,  it  was  followed 
by  a  new  treaty  which  restored  peace  to  the  two  nations ; 
not,  however,  without  leaving  in  the  English  a  feeling  of 
animosity  against  the  little  country  whose  proud  independence 
of  spirit  all  their  power  had  not  been  able  to  subdue. 

King  Edward  had  not  taken  warning  by  the  fate  of  Piers 
Gaveston ;  he  had  become  attached  to  a  young  man  at  his 
court,  Hugh  le  Despencer,  who  had  formerly  been  placed  at 
his  side  by  his  cousin  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  and  whom  he 
soon  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  chamberlain.  A  short  time 
afterwards  he  married  him  to  Eleanor  de  Clare,  sister  of  the 
young  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who  had  been  killed  at  Bannock- 
burn  ;  she  brought  him  an  enormous  estate  upon  the  borders 
of  Wales ;  her  aunt,  Margaret  de  Clare,  had  enriched  Gaves 
ton  in  the  same  manner.  Le  Despencer  was  an  Englishman, 
and  Edward  had  perhaps  hoped  to  enjoy  his  friendship  in 
peace ;  but  the  benefits  which  he  heaped  upon  his  new  favor 
ite  soon  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  barons.  At  their  head 
was  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  who  was  enraged  at  seeing  pre 
ferred  to  himself  a  man  who  had  formerly  been  a  member  of 
his  own  household.  An  abuse  of  the  royal  authority  for  the 
benefit  of  the  royal  favorite  soon  furnished  a  pretext  to 
the  great  noblemen  for  resisting  the  king's  authority.  They 
armed  their  vassals ;  the  lands  of  the  Despencers  were  pil 
laged  and  their  castles  destroyed,  in  1321.  Lancaster  joined 
in  the  insurrection,  swearing  not  to  lay  down  his  arms  before 
banishing  the  favorite :  they  advanced  as  far  as  St.  Alban's, 
and  the  earl  sent  a  messenger  to  the  king  to  announce  the 
conditions  of  peace.  Edward  was  as  timid  as  he  was  stub 
born  ;  he  defended  his  friends  as  well  as  he  was  able,  and 
declared  that  they  could  not  be  condemned  without  a  trial. 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  281 

The  barons  marched  towards  London,  and  took  up  their 
quarters  in  the  suburbs ;  Parliament  was  convened  at  West 
minster  ;  and,  with  their  arms  in  their  hands,  the  Earl  of 
Lancaster  and  his  friends  accused  Hugh  le  Despencer  and 
his  father  of  having  usurped  the  royal  authority,  kept  the 
king  away  from  his  faithful  barons,  and  illegally  imposed 
taxes,  &c.  At  length  they  demanded  that  they  should  be 
banished.  The  bishops  protested  that  the  sentence  was  ille 
gal,  but  the  king  yielded  ;  the  two  Despencers  left  England, 
and  the  barons  became  so  arrogant,  that  Queen  Isabel,  when 
making  a  pilgrimage  to  Canterbury,  was  refused  admittance 
to  'Leeds  Castle,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  although  that  fortress 
belonged  to  the  crown.  The  governor's  wife,  Lady  Badles- 
mere,  even  caused  several  arrows  to  be  shot  at  the  royal 
suite,  and  several  of  the  queen's  attendants  were  killed. 

This  insolence  enraged  the  king.  He  punished  Lord  and 
Lady  Badlesmere,  and  at  the  same  time  recalled  the  Despen 
cers.  Lancaster  rallied  round  him  all  his  friends,  and  entered 
into  a  correspondence  with  the  Scots,  who  promised  to  in 
vade  the  northern  provinces.  This  negotiation  had  no  other 
effect  than  to  crush  the  popularity  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster, 
the  Scots  being  so  much  detested.  The  king  had  already 
attacked  the  Earl  of  Hereford  and  his  ally,  Roger  Mortimer ; 
he  had  defeated  them,  and  Mortimer  was  a  prisoner  in  the 
Tower.  Hereford  had  joined  Lancaster,  and  the  king  was 
marching  against  them.  The  two  earls  had  raised  the  siege 
of  Tichnall  Castle,  and  were  retreating  before  the  royal  army, 
when  at  Boroughbridge,  on  the  borders  of  the  Ure,  Lancaster 
found  the  Governors  of  York  and  Carlisle,  with  a  body  of 
troops,  prepared  to  dispute  his  passage.  Hereford  was  killed 
upon  the  bridge ;  and,  during  the  retreat  which  followed, 
Lancaster  was  made  a  prisoner.  He  was  brought  back  in 
triumph  to  his  castle  of  Pontefract,  and  the  king  soon  joined 

VOL.  i.  36 


282  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

him  there.  Lancaster  foresaw  the  fate  which  awaited  him. 
"  Lord,"  he  said  on  being  captured,  kneeling  before  a  cruci 
fix,  *'  I  surrender  to  Thee,  and  throw  myself  upon  Thy  mercy." 
His  conviction  was  certain,  his  treason  being  flagrant.  Lan 
caster  was  condemned  by  six  earls  and  six  barons.  The  people 
insulted  him  while  he  was  being  led  to  the  scaffold ;  he 
lifted  his  pinioned  hands  towards  heaven.  "  Heavenly  King, 
have  mercy  on  me,"  he  cried,  "  for  the  king  of  earth  has 
abandoned  me."  He  was  beheaded  on  the  22d  of  March, 
1322.  Fourteen  bannerets  and  as  many  knights  also  suffered 
the  extreme  penalty.  Mortimer  was  condemned  to  imprison 
ment  for  life ;  the  Despencers  enriched  themselves  on  the 
spoils  taken  from  the  victims  ;  the  father  was  created  Earl 
of  Winchester,  and  the  enmity  of  the  people  towards  the 
favorites  was  increased  by  the  compassion  which  the  con 
demned  men  inspired.  It  was  found  necessary  to  forbid  the 
people  to  kneel  before  the  portrait  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster 
in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  rumors  of  miracles  which  had 
taken  place  at  his  tomb  were  spread  throughout  England,  as 
had  formerly  been  the  case  with  Simon  of  Montfort,  Earl  of 
Leicester. 

Roger  Mortimer  had  succeeded  in  escaping  from  prison, 
probably  not  without  having  held  some  communication  with 
Queen  Isabel,  who  resided  at  the  Tower  during  his  captivity. 
He  was  in  France,  and  had  just  entered  the  service  of 
Charles  the  Fair.  The  queen  was  enraged  at  the  execution 
of  his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Lancaster.  When  her  husband  came 
back  from  his  expedition  in  the  North,  she  received  him 
haughtily,  and  manifested  towards  the  Despencers  the  same 
hostility  which  she  had  formerly  displayed  towards  Piers 
Gaveston.  The  King  of  France,  Charles  the  Fair,  employed 
the  pretext  of  the  grievances  of  Isabel  to  take  possession  of 
the  greater  number  of  the  towns  and  castles  belonging  to 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS   SCOTORUM.  283 

Edward.  The  latter,  in  return,  seized  upon  all  the  property 
which  the  queen  held  in  England,  declaring  that  she  should 
possess  nothing  while  in  communication  with  his  enemies. 

Isabel  immediately  proposed  to  act  as  mediator  between 
her  brother  and  her  husband.  The  weak  king  fell  into  the 
trap,  and  allowed  her  to  depart.  She  was  received  in  France 
with  open  arms,  and  soon  informed  her  husband  that  he  would 
have  to  come  and  do  homage  to  the  King  of  France  for  his 
duchy  of  Aquitaine.  Edward  was  preparing  to  start,  when 
he  was  detained  in  England  in  consequence  of  indisposition. 
The  Despencers,  who  did  not  dare  to  accompany  him  into 
France,  but  who  would  not  lose  sight  of  him,  persuaded  the, 
weak  monarch  to  cede  Guienne  and  Ponthieu  to  his  son,  Prince 
Edward,  the  King  of  France  promising  to  content  himself 
with  receiving  homage  from  the  young  man.  The  Prince  of 
Wales  therefore  followed  his  mother  into  France ;  but  in 
vain  did  the  king  await  the  return  of  his  wife  and  son,  the 
queen  was  continually  delaying.  At  length,  she  haughtily 
declared  that  her  life  was  not  safe  in  England,  and  that  the 
Despencers  were  plotting  against  her  and  her  son. 

King  Edward,  astounded,  defended  himself  as  well  as  he 
was  able,  causing  all  the  prelates  in  England  to  write  and 
reassure  the  queen ;  but  she  would  not  be  convinced ;  and 
when  King  Charles  the  Fair,  tired,  very  probably,  of  the  bad 
conduct  of  Isabel,  and  of  the  injunctions  which  he  received 
from  England,  told  his  sister  that  he  could  no  longer  keep 
her  at  his  court,  she  set  out,  surrounded  by  the  knights  who 
had  embraced  her  cause,  the  Earl  of  Kent,  her  husband's 
brother,  D'Artois,  John  of  Hainault,  and,  still  accompanied  by 
her  favorite,  Mortimer,  she  embarked  at  Dort  with  a  little 
army  of  Frenchmen  and  Brabantines,  to  land  at  Orcewell  in 
Suffolk,  on  the  24th  of  September.  Scarcely  had  she  set 
foot  upon  English  soil  with  her  son,  when,  in  spite  of  all  the 


284  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

damaging  rumors  which  were  afloat  concerning  her,  a  large 
number  of  knights  flocked  round  her  standard.  The  people 
were  tired  of  the  weakness  of  King  Edward,  of  the  avidity 
of  his  favorites,  and  of  the  disorder  which  reigned  over  the 
kingdom.  When  Edward  sent  and  asked  for  the  assistance 
of  the  citizens  of  London,  they  replied  that  by  their  charters 
they  were  not  obliged  to  follow  him  into  battle,  but  that 
they  would  be  faithful  to  the  king,  the  queen,  and  the  princes, 
by  closing  their  gates  to  the  foreigners.  Edward  was  alone 
with  the  two  Despencers,  the  Chancellor  Baldock,  and  a  few 
knights.  Scarcely  had  he  set  out  for  Wales,  when  the  peo 
ple  of  London  rose,  murdered  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  who 
had  been  elevated  by  the  king  to  the  position  of  governor, 
and  sent  his  head  to  the  queen.  Edward  had  halted  at 
Gloucester,  whence  he  had  sent  old  Despencer  to  defend 
Bristol ;  the  citizens  revolted,  and  Despencer  was  com 
pelled  to  surrender  at  discretion  to  Isabel.  She  immediately 
caused  him  to  be  executed  as  a  traitor,  and  the  old  man's 
head  was  exposed  to  the  public  gaze  at  Winchester.  Hugh 
le  Despencer  and  Chancellor  Baldock,  as  well  as  the  king, 
were  wandering  in  the  county  of  Glamorgan,  where  they 
had  been  cast  ashore,  after  having  ineffectually  endeavored 
to  take  refuge  in  Ireland.  Le  Despencer  and  the  chancellor 
were  recognized  and  arrested.  The  king  immediately  sur 
rendered  to  his  enemies,  having  decided  to  share  the  fate 
of  those  who  loved  him,  and  who  were  already  condemned 
by  anticipation. 

Baldock  soon  died  of  ill-treatment,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  hasten  the  execution  of  Hugh  le  Despencer.  He  had 
refused  to  take  any  food  since  his  arrest,  and  he  was  half 
dead  when  he  was  dragged  to  the  scaffold  to  suffer  the 
same  fate  as  his  father.  The  Earl  of  Arundel,  who  had 
formerly  been  at  the  head  of  the  judges  who  had  condemned 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  285 

Lancaster,  was  beheaded  with  two  of  his  friends.  Their 
property  was  given  to  Mortimer. 

The  queen  had  arrived  in  London ;  Parliament  had  just 
met ;  and,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1327,  the  Bishop  of 
Hereford,  Adam  Orleton,  Isabel's  adviser  and  able  agent, 
asked  this  question  of  the  assembly:  "  Should  the  father  be 
re-established  upon  the  throne,  or  ought  the  son  to  replace 
him  ? "  He  dwelt  upon  the  weakness,  the  bad  deeds,  the 
treacherous  acts  of  King  Edward,  and  asked  the  lords  to 
reply  on  the  morrow  to  his  question.  The  decision  was  not 
doubtful.  While  the  barons  were  pronouncing,  in  the  great 
hall  of  Westminster,  the  fall  of  Edward  II.,  King  of  Eng 
land,  the  people  of  London,  assembled  in  crowds  at  the  doors 
of  the  palace,  loudly  demanded  his  immediate  condemnation. 
Several  bishops  alone  had  the  courage  to  speak  in  favor  of 
the  unhappy  king,  who  had  not  seen  a  sword  drawn  nor 
a  bow  stretched  in  his  defence  :  they  were  insulted,  and  the 
Bishop  of  Rochester  was  trampled  in  the  mud  on  leaving 
the  palace.  The  young  prince  was  proclaimed  king  by  the 
public  voice,  and  all  the  peers  who  were  present  swore 
allegiance  to  him  on  the  spot. 

When  the  queen  was  informed  of  the  success  of  all  her 
schemes,  she  cried  bitterly.  "  Alas  ! "  she  said,  "  they  have 
deposed  my  husband  the  king.  Parliament  has  overstepped 
its  authority."  These  hypocritical  tears  did  not  deceive  any 
body;  the  young  prince,  Edward,  alone  was  touched  at  them. 
"  Do  not  be  afraid,  mother,"  said  he,  "  I  will  never  deprive 
my  father  of  his  crown."  A  deputation  was  therefore  sent 
to  the  poor  king,  who  was  a  prisoner  in  Kenilworth  Castle. 
When  Edward  II.  perceived  the  Bishop  of  Hereford  at  the 
head  of  the  ambassadors,  he  fell  on  the  ground,  stricken  with 
grief.  The  judge  who  had  condemned  the  two  Despencers, 
Sir  William  Trussel,  advanced  in  the  name  of  the  Parlia- 


286  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  X. 

ment,  and,  taking  his  turn  to  speak,  told  Edward  that  he 
was  no  longer  King  of  England.  At  the  same  moment,  Sir 
Thomas  Blount,  steward  of  the  royal  household,  broke  his 
baton,  renouncing  his  allegiance  to  the  king.  Edward  lis 
tened  without  complaining,  and  without  urging  anything  on 
his  own  behalf,  simply  thanking  the  Parliament  for  having 
recognized  the  rights  of  his  son.  On  the  24th  of  Janu 
ary,  1327,  King  Edward  III.  was  proclaimed  throughout 
the  kingdom.  Edward  II.  was,  according  to  the  decree  of 
Parliament,  deposed  from  the  throne  by  the  lords  and  com 
mons,  and  the  power  was  intrusted  to  Queen  Isabel,  who 
was  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  for  her  son, 
then  only  fifteen  years  of  age. 

Isabel  was  herself  under  the  influence  of  Mortimer.  Ed 
ward  II.,  being  dethroned,  could  not  hope  to  live  long. 
The  power  of  the  favorite  over  the  queen  became  a  mat 
ter  for  alarm.  Several  monks  preached  against  him ;  the 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  to  whose  keeping  the  deposed  king  had 
been  intrusted,  seemed  to  have  conceived  a  feeling  of  pity 
for  his  prisoner ;  the  latter  was  removed  to  another  place. 
Being  consigned  to  the  charge  of  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir 
John  Maltravers,  he  was  taken  to  Bristol.  The  people  be 
gan  to  be  touched  at  his  fate.  Two  scoundrels  who  had 
been  sent  to  him  as  jailers  dragged  him  out  half  naked, 
and  took  him  to  Corfe  Castle.  The  poor  king  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  dress  himself;  some  dirty  water  was  brought  to 
him  in  a  helmet.  Tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  "  I  have 
some  purer  water  in  spite  of  you,"  he  said.  A  crown  of 
dry  herbs  had  been  placed  upon  his  head.  At  length, 
moving  from  place  to  place,  the  dethroned  monarch  was 
brought  to  Berkeley  Castle,  on  the  river  Severn.  An  at 
tempt  was  made  to  poison  him,  but  without  success.  At 
length,  one  night,  the  governor  of  the  castle  being  away, 


CHAP.  X.]  MALLEUS    SCOTORUM.  287 

piercing  cries  were  heard,  and  immediately  afterwards  all 
was  silent  again.  The  inhabitants  of  the  neighborhood  shud 
dered  on  hearing  them.  On  the  morrow,  when  the  doors 
were  opened,  the  death  of  Edward  II.  was  announced,  and 
the  country  people  were  admitted  to  survey  the  corpse  of 
him  who  had  been  their  king :  the  expression  of  agony 
which  rested  upon  the  once  handsome  features  of  the  un 
happy  monarch  terrified  all  who  saw  it.  The  body  was  taken 
to  the  abbey  of  Gloucester  and  buried  soon  afterwards  ;  but 
the  people  went  in  crowds  to  the  tomb  of  this  king  whom 
no  one  had  defended  during  his  lifetime.  The  offerings 
made  in  his  honor  at  the  convent  were  so  considerable  that 
the  monks  were  enabled  to  add  an  aisle  to  their  church. 
This  unfortunate  monarch,  so  weak  and  so  frivolous,  con 
sistent  only  in  his  affection,  so  harshly  abandoned  and  so 
cruelly  murdered,  was  not  yet  forty-three  years  of  age  when 
he  expired  on  the  21st  of  September,  1327. 


288  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XL 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  HUNDRED  YEARS'  WAR.  — EDWARD  III.     1327-1377. 

THE  young  king,  Edward  III.,  was  but  fifteen  years  of 
age  when  he  was  raised  to  the  throne  of  his  deposed 
father.  The  Parliament  appointed  a  council  of  regency, 
composed  of  five  prelates  and  six  great  noblemen,  and  con 
signed  the  young  monarch  into  the  keeping  of  the  Earl  of 
Lancaster.  No  power  was  formally  vested  in  the  dowager 
queen ;  but  her  debts  were  discharged,  and  a  large  pension 
was  granted  to  her,  by  means  of  which  she  was  enabled  to 
strengthen  her  own  influence  and  increase  the  authority  of 
Mortimer. 

While  England  had  been  engrossed  in  its  internal  dis 
sensions  and  struggles,  Scotland  had  been  recovering  from 
the  effects  of  its  misfortunes,  under  the  firm  government  of 
Robert  Bruce.  The  thirst  for  vengeance  raged,  however,  in 
the  hearts  of  all  the  Scots ;  and  respect  for  the  truce  was 
powerless  to  restrain  them.  Hearing  that  King  Edward  II. 
had  been  dethroned,  and  that  a  council  of  regency  had  been 
appointed,  they  crossed  the  frontier  on  the  3d  of  February, 
1327,  and  began  to  lay  waste  the  northern  counties.  Their 
army  gradually  increased  in  numbers.  King  Robert  was  ill, 
but  his  two  faithful  friends,  James,  Earl  of  Douglas,  and 
Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  were  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 
The  Scottish  army  consisted  entirely  of  mounted  soldiers, 
whose  light,  robust  steeds,  steady  as  themselves,  bore  them 
with  the  swiftness  of  the  wind,  without  rest,  and  almost  with- 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  289 

out  provender.  No  baggage,  no  tents,  —  a  bag  of  oatmeal  in 
front  of  each  horseman,  under  his  saddle  an  iron  plate,  which 
served  for  baking  his  cakes;  the  English  farms  and  villages 
furnished  the  rest. 

Rumors  of  the  ravages  to  which  the  northern  counties  had 
been  subjected  touched  the  feelings  of  the  young  king,  and 
awakened  his  martial  ardor.  In  the  beginning  of  July,  the 
English  troops,  supported  by  an  army  corps  from  Hainault, 
the  members  of  which  had  been  brought  with  great  diffi 
culty  to  live  at  peace  with  their  English  allies,  arrived  at 
Durham.  The  exact  whereabouts  of  the  Scottish  army  was 
unknown ;  but  the  king  pressed  forward  in  pursuit.  Like 
his  enemies,  he  had  left  the  camp  baggage  behind  him.  After 
a  week  of  pursuit,  the  Scots  were  still  invisible,  and  the 
English,  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  were  beginning  to  mur 
mur.  The  king  promised  the  honor  of  knighthood  and  a 
pension  of  a  hundred  livres  to  whoever  should  bring  tidings 
of  the  enemy.  They  had  crossed  the  Wear  ;  on  the  fourth 
day  a  messenger  galloped  up  on  horseback.  "  Sire,"  said 
Thomas  Rokeby,  "  the  Scots  are  within  three  leagues  of 
this  spot,  encamped  upon  a  mountain.  I  have  been  their 
prisoner  for  a  week ;  but  they  liberated  me  that  I  might 
come  and  inform  you  that  they  await  your  arrival."  The 
king  immediately  marched  towards  the  enemy. 

They  had  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  Wear ;  and  this 
time  the  Scots  were  perceived  encamped  on  the  summit  of 
a  hill.  They  were  drawn  up  in  battle  array,  but  they  did 
not  stir.  Edward  dispatched  a  herald  to  them  with  a  pro 
posal  that  they  should  cross  the  river,  in  order  that  the 
combat  might  take  place  upon  the  open  plain.  "  I  have 
not  come  here  for  the  king's  pleasure,"  said  Douglas,  "and 
I  will  not  leave  my  post  for  love  of  him.  If  he  is  not 
satisfied,  let  him  cross  the  water  and  drive  us  before  him." 

VOL.  i.  37 


290  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XL 

The  undertaking  was  too  perilous,  and  the  two  armies  re 
mained  in  their  respective  positions  for  two  days.  On  the 
third  night  the  Scots  raised  their  camp,  and  were  soon  after 
wards  perceived  to  have  taken  up  a  still  stronger  position 
upon  another  hill.  The  king  of  England  broke  up  his  camp 
likewise,  and  followed  them.  For  eighteen  days  the  two 
armies  had  watched  each  other  without  result,  not  a  blow 
being  struck ;  the  English  troops  were  sleeping  in  their  tents, 
when  a  loud  cry  was  heard  amid  the  silence :  "  Douglas ! 
Douglas  !  Death  to  the  English  robbers  !  "  The  terrified 
soldiers  rose  in  confusion  and  in  a  half  sleeping  condition, 
and  groped  about  in  the  dark  for  their  weapons.  Mean 
while  sounds  of  strife  were  heard,  and  suddenly  the  ropes 
supporting  the  royal  tent  were  cut,  and  by  the  side  of  the 
couch  whereon  the  young  king  was  sleeping,  Black  Doug 
las,  the  most  valiant  knight  in  Scotland,  appeared  like  a 
threatening  phantom.  The  chamberlain  and  chaplain  of  the 
young  king  sprang  forward  to  protect  their  master.  The 
youth  had  hidden  himself  within  the  folds  of  the  tent. 
Douglas,  however,  did  not  pursue  his  adventure  further ; 
sounding  the  horn,  he  recalled  the  three  hundred  men  who 
had  followed  him.  "  What  have  you  done  ? "  asked  Ran 
dolph,  when  the  Scots  had  regained  their  intrenchments. 
"  We  have  shed  a  little  blood,  my  lord,  that  is  all,"  said 
Douglas.  "  We  should  have  crossed  over  with  the  whole 
of  our  army,"  insisted  his  friend ;  "  our  provisions  are  ex 
hausted."  On  the  following  night  the  Scots  disappeared  in 
silence,  carrying  with  them  a  rich  booty,  while  King  Ed 
ward,  incensed  and  humiliated,  again  marched  towards  York, 
whither  his  affianced  bride,  Philippa  of  Hainault,  had  been 
conducted  by  John  of  Hainault.  The  marriage  was  cele 
brated  on  St.  Paul's  day,  1828.  The  king  was  sixteen  years 
of  age,  while  the  queen  was  one  year  younger.  Peace  had 


EDWARD   II.    AND   HIS   GAOLERS. 


BLACK   DOUGLAS   BEFORE   THE   KING'S  TENT. 


CHAP.  XL]  THE   HUNDRED   YEARS'  WAR.  291 

just  been  concluded  with  Scotland  ;  the  independence  of  that 
kingdom  had  thereby  been  acknowledged  ;  the  crown  jewels, 
which  had  been  formerly  seized  by  Edward  L,  had  been 
restored ;  and  the  little  Princess  Joan,  who  was  betrothed  to 
David,  the  young  son  of  Robert  Bruce,  had  been  taken  to 
Berwick  and  given  up  to  the  Scots.  It  seemed  as  though 
the  deliverer  of  Scotland  had  waited  for  this  great  triumph 
before  going  to  his  last  rest.  He  died  in  the  following  year, 
in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  leaving  wise  counsels  to  his 
countrymen;  and  to  his  faithful  friend,  the  good  Lord  James 
Douglas,  the  task  of  carrying  his  heart  to  Palestine,  in  order 
that  his  vow  to  visit  the  Holy  Land  might  be  fulfilled.  The 
evils  of  a  minority  threatened  Scotland  at  the  very  moment 
when  England  was  escaping  from  that  calamity. 

The  arrogance  of  Mortimer  had  increased  with  his  power, 
and  the  great  noblemen  were  beginning  to  chafe  under  the 
yoke  which  he  imposed  upon  them.  The  Earl  of  Lancaster 
had  been  the  first  to  make  an  attempt  against  the  favorite ; 
but  he  had  been  defeated,  notwithstanding  that  he  obtained 
the  temporary  support  of  the  king's  uncles,  the  Earl  of  Kent 
and  the  Earl  of  Norfolk.  Mortimer  ravaged  the  possessions 
of  Lancaster  like  a  conquered  kingdom.  A  rumor  had  been 
spread  abroad  that  King  Edward  II.  was  not  dead,  and  the 
Earl  of  Kent  had  perhaps  been  encouraged  in  this  illusion, 
which  was  the  cause  of  his  ruin.  He  was  accused  of  high 
treason,  and  condemned  for  the  strange  crime  of  having 
endeavored  to  replace  a  dead  man  upon  the  throne.  The 
execution  took  place  on  the  19th  of  May,  1330,  in  spite  of 
the  noble  birth  of  the  victim,  and  the  public  indignation 
reached  its  climax.  The  young  king  had  hitherto  remained 
silent  concerning  state  matters,  and  had  appeared  as  a  do 
cile  instrument  in  the  hands  of  his  mother  and  Mortimer, 
although  he  had  kept  aloof  from  them  since  his  marriage, 


292  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

not   permitting    his    young   wife   to   frequent   a   corrupt   and 
licentious   court. 

It  was  on  the  13th  of  June,  1330,  that  a  son  was  born 
to  King  Edward,  who  was  to  achieve  a  mighty  reputation 
as  Prince  of  Wales.  The  young  king,  already  a  father  at 
eighteen  years  of  age,  began  to  feel  the  disgrace  of  his  situ 
ation,  and  to  experience  some  remorse  for  the  wrong  which 
was  being  perpetrated  in  his  name.  Slowly  and  prudently 
he  communicated  his  opinions  to  Lord  Montacute,  one  of  his 
advisers.  A  Parliament  was  convoked  at  Nottingham,  in 
the  month  of  October,  the  king  being  then  lodged  in  the 
castle  with  Mortimer  and  his  mother.  On  the  night  of  the 
19th,  the  keys  of  the  fortress  had  been  brought  as  usual  to 
Queen  Isabel,  when  Lord  Montacute,  accompanied  by  sev 
eral  friends,  crept  silently  into  the  vaults  of  the  castle,  which 
had  been  opened  to  him  by  the  governor.  The  king  awaited 
him  with  great  anxiety  at  the  door  of  the  great  tower. 
The  conspirators  ascended  a  dark  staircase  and  found  them 
selves  at  the  door  of  the  queen's  antechamber.  Notwith 
standing  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  the  voice  of  Mortimer 
was  heard  discussing  with  some  of  his  adherents.  Monta 
cute  and  his  friends  broke  open  the  door,  and  killed  two 
sentinels  who  endeavored  to  defend  it.  Hearing  the  commo 
tion,  the  queen  ran  forward,  calling  loudly  upon  her  son, 
tvho  had  remained  behind  the  door,  but  whose  presence  she 
guessed.  "  Fair  son,"  she  cried,  "  O  spare  the  gentle  Morti 
mer,  my  beloved  cousin."  The  favorite  was,  however,  dragged 
out,  and  at  daybreak  he  was  already  on  his  way,  under  strong 
escort,  to  the  Tower  of  London.  Nottingham  rang  with  sounds 
of  joy. 

The  king  had  seized  the  reins  of  government ;  this  he 
announced  to  his  subjects  in  dissolving  the  Parliament  and 
convoking  a  new  representative  assembly  at  Westminster. 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  293 

On  the  26th  of  November,  1330,  the  favorite  was  cited  be 
fore  his  judges,  the  king  himself  being  present  at  the  trial. 
His  crimes  were  notorious,  and  consequently  the  decision 
did  not  long  remain  doubtful.  As  he  had  put  Hugh .  le 
Despencer  to  death  without  allowing  him  time  to  make  any 
defence,  Mortimer  was  himself  drawn  to  Tyburn  and  hanged, 
with  Sir  Simon  Beresford,  one  of  his  accomplices.  His  prop 
erty,  however,  was  not  confiscated,  and  his  family  retained 
the  title  of  Earl  of  March,  which  had  been  granted  by  the 
queen  to  her  favorite.  Isabel  was  imprisoned  in  the  castle 
of  Rising,  treated  with  respect  by  her  son,  who  paid  a  visit 
to  her  every  year,  and  ministered  liberally  to  all  her  neces 
sities  ;  but  she  never  again  left  her  retreat,  in  which  she 
lived  during  more  than  twenty-seven  years  afterwards. 

The  Regent  of  Scotland,  the  Earl  of  Moray,  was  dead. 
The  valiant  Douglas  had  been  slain  in  an  expedition  against 
the  Moors  of  Spain,  the  first  episode  in  the  crusade  which 
he  had  undertaken  in  company  with  the  heart  of  Bruce. 
Scotland  was  now  governed  by  the  Earl  of  Mar,  a  warrior 
far  inferior  to  the  great  champions  of  liberty,  the  friends 
and  supporters  of  Robert  Bruce.  The  time  had  come  when 
England  was  to  be  raised  out  of  the  disgrace  of  the  last 
treaty.  The  pretensions  of  Edward  Baliol,  the  son  of  the 
exiled  king,  were  advanced  by  several  English  peers  who 
had  formerly  been  deprived  of  property  pertaining  to  them 
in  Scotland.  Baliol  advanced  into  the  northern  counties, 
and  a  certain  number  of  Scottish  malcontents  crossed  the 
fronter  and  rallied  round  his  standard.  Entering  Scotland, 
he  soon  found  himself  confronted  by  two  armies  superior 
to  his  own  ;  but  a  skilful  movement  placed  the  invaders  in 
an  advantageous  position  ;  the  £-arl  of  Mar  imprudently  gave 
battle  in  a  defile  on  Duplin  Heath,  where  he  was  defeated 
and  killed,  with  many  others.  Baliol  had  time  to  fortify 


294  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XI. 

himself  within  Perth  before  the  arrival  of  the  Earl  of 
March,  and  the  Scottish  fleet  was  destroyed  by  the  little 
squadron  brought  over  by  the  pretender.  Baliol's  forces 
were  increasing  day  by  day ;  he  was  crowned  at  Scone  on 
the  2d  of  September,  having  secretly  renewed  to  King  Ed 
ward  III.  the  allegiance  which  his  father  had  rendered  to 
Edward  I. 

But  the  crown  thus  acquired  in  seven  weeks  was  des 
tined  to  be  lost  in  less  than  three  months.  On  the  night 
of  the  16th  of  December,  the  new  king  was  taken  by  surprise 
at  Annan,  in  the  county  of  Dumfries,  by  a  Scottish  corps  under 
the  command  of  the  young  Earl  of  Moray  and  Sir  Archi 
bald  Douglas.  Baliol,  half-clad,  and  mounted  upon  a  horse 
which  he  had  not  had  time  to  saddle,  contrived  to  escape  to 
the  English  frontier,  leaving  his  brother,  Henry,  dead  behind 
him.  King  Edward  received  him  with  so  much  kindness 
that  the  Scottish  people,  indignant  at  the  support  accorded  to 
the  pretender,  invaded  the  northern  counties  of  England  on 
several  occasions,  carrying  their  ravages  to  such  an  extent 
that  King  Edward  determined  to  enter  Scotland.  In  the 
month  of  May,  1333,  he  joined  Baliol,  who  during  two 
months  had  been  besieging  the  town  of  Berwick.  The 
garrison  was  preparing  to  surrender,  when,  on  the  19th  of 
July,  Archibald  Douglas,  now  Regent  of  Scotland,  appeared 
in  sight  of  the  town.  The  English  army  was  posted  on  the 
heights  of  Halidon  Hill,  protected  by  the  marshes.  The 
Scots  were  excited  by  the  peril  threatening  Berwick ;  they 
attacked  the  enemy  in  spite  of  obstacles.  Arrows  fell  thick 
in  their  midst  during  their  passage  across  the  marshes,  and 
disorder  had  already  broken  out  in  their  ranks,  when  they 
began  their  fierce  onslaught  on  the  hill.  The  assault  was 
so  vigorous  that  for  a  moment  victory  seemed  to  incline  in 
their  favor;  but  the  regent  fell,  and  with  him  and  beside 


CHAP.  XI.]          THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  295 

him,  his  most  valiant  knights.  King  Edward  rushed  forward 
in  pursuit  of  the  Scots,  who  were  beginning  to  fly.  Lord 
Darcy,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Irish  peasants  who  had 
joined  as  auxiliaries,  slaughtered  the  stragglers.  Scotland 
had  never  suffered  so  lamentable  a  defeat.  King  David  and 
his  wife  took  refuge  in  France,  and  spent  several  years  at 
Chateau  Gaillard.  Baliol  was  reinstalled  upon  the  throne, 
not,  however,  without  ceding  to  his  powerful  ally  the  finest 
counties  in  the  south  of  Scotland,  to  the  general  indigna 
tion  of  the  Scottish  people.  They  soon  compelled  him  to 
take  refuge  in  the  territory  which  he  had  thus  abandoned 
to  England,  where  he  maintained  his  position  with  great  dif 
ficulty,  although  supported  from  time  to  time  by  fresh  troops 
from  England.  A  more  ambitious  project  had  been  formed 
in  the  mind  of  the  King  of  England,  and  the  war  with 
Scotland  languished,  while  Edward  was  dreaming  of  con 
quering  France. 

The  King  of  France,  Charles  IV.,  surnamed  the  Fair,  had 
died  in  1328  ;  and,  a  short  time  after  his  death,  the  queen, 
his  wife,  had  given  birth  to  a  daughter.  The  Salic  law 
prohibiting  the  accession  of  females  to  the  throne,  the  peers 
of  the  kingdom  and  the  States-general  had  decreed  that  the 
crown  belonged  to  the  cousin  of  the  deceased  king,  Philip 
of  Valois,  grandson  of  Philip  the  Bold,  by  his  youngest  son, 
Charles  of  Valois ;  and  the  new  sovereign  had  taken  un 
disputed  possession  of  the  throne.  King  Edward  III.  was 
scarcely  sixteen  years  of  age,  and,  although  maintaining  from 
that  time  forth,  in  England,  that  his  right  was  superior  to 
that  of  Philip  of  Valois,  his  mother  Isabel  being  the  daugh 
ter  of  Philip  the  Fair,  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  the 
King  of  France  to  render  fealty  and  homage  to  him  for  the 
duchy  of  Aquitaine,  and  again  performed  the  same  cere 
mony  in  1331,  when  he  had  attained  his  majority  and  was 


296  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

king  de  facto.  But  in  1336,  the  young  King  of  England 
felt  that  he  was  securely  seated  upon  his  throne.  He  was 
piqued  by  the  support  which  Philip  of  Valois  openly  gave 
to  the  Scotch ;  and  he  publicly  declared  that  the  peers  of 
France  and  the  States-general  had  acted  as  rogues  arid  rob 
bers  rather  than  as  judges,  and  that  for  the  future  he  would 
not  recognize  their  decisions,  but  that  he  would  maintain  his 
own  just  rights.  Thus  began  that  disastrous  war  which  has 
been  called  the  "  Hundred  Years'  War,"  but  which,  in  re 
ality,  was  waged  from  1338  until  1453,  during  the  reigns  of 
five  kings  of  France  —  Philip  VI.,  John  the  Good,  Charles 
V.,  Charles  VI.,  and  Charles  VII.  —  and  of  as  many  kings 
of  England  —  Edward  III.,  Richard  II.,  Henry  IV.,  Henry 
V.,  and  Henry  VI.  It  cost  the  lives  of  millions  of  men, 
brought  plague  and  famine  with  it,  and  caused  unheard-of 
misery,  without  any  result  for  the  two  nations  other  than  a 
feeling  of  international  hatred  which  has  scarcely  died  out 
in  our  own  time. 

The  preparations  on  both  sides  were  gigantic.  The  Eng 
lish  people  looked  with  favor  upon  the  war  against  France, 
and,  in  spite  of  the  Magna  Charta,  the  king  was  allowed 
to  seize  the  Cornish  tin  and  all  the  wool  grown  during  the 
year,  although  they  had  already  granted  to  him  all  the  sub 
sidies,  tallage,  and  loans  which  he  had  demanded.  Edward 
embarked  at  Orwell  on  the  15th  of  July,  1338,  and  landed 
four  days  afterwards  at  Antwerp.  The  Count  of  Flanders 
was  an  ally  of  the  King  of  France,  Philip ;  but  his  towns 
scarcely  obeyed  him.  They  were  then  under  the  influence  of 
a  brewer  of  Ghent,  named  Jacques  van  Arteveldt,  who  con 
tracted  a  friendship  with  King  Edward.  He  had  negotiated 
also  with  more  illustrious  allies :  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 
the  Dukes  of  Brabant  and  Guelders,  the  Counts  of  Hainault 
and  Namur.  All  had  received  his  money ;  but  the  troops 


CHAP.  XL]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  297 

did  not  arrive,  and  when,  on  the  1st  of  July,  1339,  the 
King  of  England  at  length  succeeded  in  crossing  the  French 
frontier,  the  Counts  of  Namur  and  Hainault  immediately 
abandoned  him,  and  his  other  confederates  soon  did  like 
wise.  The  king  was  compelled  to  return,  after  having,  by 
the  advice  of  Arteveldt,  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  France, 
and  added  to  his  coat  of  arms  the  lily  side  by  side  with 
the  lions  of  England.  The  Parliament,  as  ardent  in  the 
cause  of  the  war  as  the  king  himself,  voted  enormous  sub 
sidies,  and  on  the  22d  of  June,  1340,  Edward  again  left  Eng 
land  to  attack  the  French  vessels  of  war  huddled  together 
in  the  port  of  Sluys.  Queen  Philippa  had  accompanied  her 
husband,  taking  with  her  a  great  number  of  ladies  in  wait 
ing,  who  were  placed  in  the  rear.  The  French  and  Genoese 
vessels  hired  by  King  Philip  were  numerous  and  very  large ; 
when  they  sailed  out  of  port,  attached  together  by  iron  chains 
and  formed  in  four  divisions,  and  advanced  to  dispute  his 
passage,  Edward  uttered  a  cry  of  joy.  "  Ah  !  "  said  he,  "I 
have  long  desired  to  fight  with  the  French.  So  shall  I  meet 
some  of  them  to-day  by  the  grace  of  God  and  St.  George." 
He  began  by  standing  out  to  sea  again  ;  his  adversaries  im 
agined  that  he  declined  an  engagement,  but  he  was  desirous 
of  avoiding  the  ardent  rays  of  the  sun  ;  and,  attacking  briskly 
the  first  division  of  the  French  fleet,  he  soon  made  himself 
master  of  it  in  spite  of  a  vigorous  resistance. 

A  reinforcement  arrived  at  the  same  time  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lord  Morley ;  the  victors  thereupon  assailed  the 
three  French  divisions  at  the  same  time.  The  French  sail 
ors  became  alarmed ;  they  could  not  manage  their  vessels, 
nor  disengage  them  to  facilitate  a  retreat ;  after  having  fought 
during  several  hours,  the  French  and  Genoese  sprang  into 
the  water,  in  order  to  escape  by  swimming.  Many  of  them 
were  killed,  and  the  defeat  was  so  decisive  that  nobody  was 

VOL.  I.  38 


298  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XI. 

bold  enough  to  communicate  the  news  to  King  Philip.  His 
court  jester  presented  himself  before  the  French  monarch. 
"  The  English  are  cowards,"  he  said.  "  Why  so  ? "  in 
quired  the  king.  "  Because  they  had  not  the  courage  to 
spring  into  the  sea  at  Sluys  as  did  the  French  and  Normans." 
The  king  guessed  the  sad  truth.  Edward  had  landed  on 
French  soil,  surrounded  by  the  allies  whom  his  victory  had 
attracted  round  him  ;  he  laid  siege  to  Saint-Omer  and  Tour- 
nay,  sending  thence  a  challenge  to  Philip  of  Valois,  pro 
posing  to  him  to  arrange  their  quarrel  by  single  combat,  or, 
that  the  fate  of  the  two  kingdoms  should  be  intrusted  to  a 
hundred  combatants  on  each  side,  or,  that  a  day  should  be 
fixed  on  which  a  pitched  battle  should  be  fought.  Philip 
answered  with  disdain  ;  and,  as  in  the  preceding  year,  he 
left  his  enemy  free  to  exhaust  his  strength  and  resources  on 
insignificant  places,  without  ever  according  him  the  oppor 
tunity  of  a  general  engagement.  The  coffers  of  the  King  of 
England  soon  became  empty,  and  his  allies  refused  to  fight ; 
he  was  compelled  to  consent  to  the  armistice  which  Pope 
Benedict  XII.  advised,  and  he  returned  to  his  kingdom  in 
furiated  by  the  ill  success  of  a  campaign  which  had  begun 
under  brilliant  auspices.  He  unexpectedly  appeared  in  Lon 
don,  cast  three  judges  into  prison,  deposed  the  chancellor  and 
the  treasurer,  who  had  not  been  able,  he  said,  to  supply  him 
with  the  subsidies  necessary  to  his  requirements,  and  immedi 
ately  engaged  in  a  contention  with  the  Archbishop  of  Can 
terbury,  president  of  the  council.  The  archbishop  exonerated 
himself  before  the  Parliament,  which,  according  to  its  wise 
custom,  refused  the  subsidies  until  the  king  had  promised  the 
reform  of  existing  abuses,  and  new  guaranties  against  others 
in  the  future. 

Meanwhile   King   David  Bruce  had  returned   to   Scotland; 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  was  handsome,  of  good  figure, 


THE   BATTLE   OP   SLUYS. 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  299 

and  also  skilled  in  athletic  exercises.  The  joy  of  his  sub 
jects,  therefore,  was  great  at  his  arrival.  Baliol  had  been 
driven  back  into  England  ;  and,  notwithstanding  several  at 
tempts  of  the  young  Scottish  king  upon  the  northern  coun 
ties,  Edward  concluded  an  armistice  with  him  in  1342, 
intrusting  Baliol  with  the  task  of  defending  the  English 
frontier,  so  much  was  he  absorbed  in  the  war  with  France, 
and  in  thoughts  of  revenge  for  his  past  checks. 

A  new  opening  had  presented  itself  to  him  upon  the 
French  territory.  John  III.,  Duke  of  Brittany,  had  died 
without  issue  in  1341,  and  his  brother,  John  of  Montfort, 
had  immediately  seized  his  treasure,  as  well  as  several  im 
portant  towns.  But  Joan  of  Penthidvre,  otherwise  Joan  the 
Lame,  wife  of  Charles,  Count  of  Blois,  claimed  the  duchy 
as  the  daughter  of  Guy  of  Montfort,  a  younger  brother  of 
the  deceased  duke.  The  Count  of  Blois  was  the  nephew 
of  Philip  of  Valois,  and  he  had  invoked  the  aid  of  his 
uncle.  Montfort  had  been  summoned  to  Paris  to  render  an 
account  of  his  claims.  After  having  appeared  before  the 
king  he  had  fled  secretly,  and  his  first  care  had  been  to 
repair  to  London,  there  to  do  homage  to  the  King  of 
England  in  respect  to  Brittany.  Edward  had  promised  to 
support  him,  but  already  a  French  army  had  marched  into 
Brittany.  John  of  Montfort  had  been  captured  at  Nantes, 
and  his  wife,  Joan  of  Flanders,  had  with  difficulty  contrived 
to  escape  with  her  son  to  the  castle  of  Hennebon,  where 
she  was  besieged  by  the  Duke  of  Normandy.  The  countess 
"  had  indeed  the  heart  of  a  man  and  a  lion,"  says  Frois- 
sart,  and  she  valiantly  encouraged  her  partisans,  while  wait 
ing  for  the  succor  which  she  had  asked  from  England.  The 
wind  was  unfavorable ;  the  English  vessels  did  not  arrive, 
and  treachery  began  to  do  its  work  in  the  town,  when 
Joan,  looking  from  her  window,  perceived  sails  in  the 


300  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XI. 

offing.  "  It  is  coming !  it  is  coming ! "  she  cried,  "  the 
succor  which  I  have  so  long  desired."  The  rising  tide 
brought  to  her  Walter  de  Manny,  a  valiant  knight  of  Hai- 
nault,  who  had  become  a  faithful  servant  to  the  King  of 
England,  and  one  of  the  most  illustrious  amongst  his  war 
riors.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  goodly  number  of  knights 
and  men-at-arms,  and  soon  caused  the  siege  to  be  raised. 
But  the  war  continued  in  Lower  Brittany.  With  singular 
inconsistency  the  King  of  France,  who  owed  his  elevation 
to  the  throne  to  the  Salic  law,  was  maintaining  in  Brittany 
the  cause  of  female  succession,  while  Edward  was  defend 
ing  the  rights  of  the  male  sex,  which  he  had  refused  to 
recognize  in  the  case  of  Philip  of  Valois.  An  armistice 
enabled  the  Countess  de  Montfort  to  cross  over  to  England 
to  obtain  reinforcements.  When  she  returned  to  Brittany, 
she  was  accompanied  by  Robert  of  Artois,  brother-in-law  of 
King  Philip  and  his  most  deadly  enemy.  The  town  of 
Vannes  was  captured  and  recaptured.  Robert  of  Artois, 
wounded,  succeeded,  although  not  without  great  difficulty, 
in  escaping  to  England,  there  to  die  at  the  very  moment 
when  Edward  was  setting  sail  with  the  resolution  of  direct 
ing  the  war  in  Brittany  in  person.  He  landed  in  the  month 
of  October,  1343,  at  Hennebon,  with  twelve  thousand  men, 
and  immediately  laid  siege  to  Yannes,  Rennes,  and  Nantes, 
with  no  other  result  than  the  devastation  of  the  country, 
already  overrun  by  so  many  enemies,  and  the  retreat  of 
Charles  of  Blois,  whose  forces  had  been  greatly  reduced. 

The  arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  the  eldest  son  of 
King  Philip,  soon  enabled  the  French  troops  to  act  once 
more  upon  the  aggressive  by  besieging  Edward,  encamped 
before  Vannes.  The  two  armies  were  suffering  severely  from 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  The  Duke  of  Normandy 
dreaded  the  reinforcements  which  were  expected  by  the  Eng- 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  301 

lish.  Edward  foresaw  that  his  provisions  would  shortly  be 
exhausted,  when  the  legates  of  the  Pope  arrived,  and,  by 
dint  of  their  exertions,  a  truce  of  three  years  was  arranged; 
the  siege  of  Vannes  was  then  raised. 

Notwithstanding  the  truce,  the  war  still  raged  in  Brit 
tany.  King  Philip  of  Yalois  aroused  a  widespread  feeling 
of  indignation  by  arresting  several  Breton  noblemen  at  a 
tournament,  among  others,  Oliver  de  Clisson,  and  by  causing 
them  to  be  beheaded  without  trial,  as  guilty  of  relations 
with  the  English.  The  head  of  Clisson  was  sent  to  Nantes ; 
but  the  king  had  created  an  implacable  foe  in  the  person 
of  Joan  of  Belville,  the  widow  of  Clisson,  who  immediately 
armed  all  her  vassals,  and  soon  vied  with  Joan  of  Montfort 
herself  in  courage  and  intrepidity.  The  countess  had  re 
cently  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  her  husband,  who  had 
escaped  from  prison,  where  he  had  been  incarcerated  for  six 
years.  He  brought  with  him,  from  England,  a  small  body 
of  troops,  which  he  landed  at  Hennebon  in  the  middle  of 
September,  1345  ;  but  his  health  was  impaired,  and  he  died 
on  the  26th  of  the  same  month,  naming  King  Edward 
guardian  of  his  son. 

Hostilities  recommenced  openly.  During  the  truce  the 
two  kings  had  made  preparations  for  a  desperate  struggle. 
Among  the  taxes  which  King  Philip  had  devised  for  the 
purpose  of  filling  his  coffers,  was  the  monopoly  of  salt. 
"  It  is  indeed  by  the  Salic  law  that  Philip  of  Valois  reigns," 
said  Edward.  "  The  King  of  England  is  but  a  wool  mer 
chant,"  was  the  reply  at  the  court  of  France.  The  Parlia 
ment  had  granted  fresh  subsidies,  recommending  merely  to 
the  king  that  he  should  put  an  end  to  the  war  promptly 
either  by  battle  or  by  treaty. 

The  Earl  of  Derby  was  already  in  Guienne,  retaking, 
one  by  one,  all  the  places  which  had  been  captured  by  the 


302  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  XI. 

enemy,  when  King  Edward  landed  in  Flanders,  on  the  26th 
of  June,  1345,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  an  interview  with 
the  deputies  of  the  great  Flemish  towns.  The  citizens,  under 
the  command  of  Jacques  van  Arteveldt,  had  by  degrees 
deprived  their  ruler  of  his  power,  and  King  Edward  had 
conceived  the  hope  of  substituting  his  son,  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  for  Count  Louis  of  Flanders,  who  refused  to  re 
nounce  his  alliance  with  the  King  of  France.  But  when  he 
unfolded  his  plans  before  the  deputies  of  the  cities,  and 
although  he  was  ardently  supported  by  Arteveldt,  the  Flem 
ings  eyed  each  other,  and  asked  that  they  might  be  allowed 
to  consult  their  fellow-citizens.  "  Yes,"  said  the  King  of 
England,  "  by  all  means ; "  and  he  waited  at  Sluys  while 
Arteveldt  proceeded  to  Bruges  and  to  Ypres,  there  to  plead 
the  cause  of  his  patron  and  ally.  He  placed  too  much 
reliance,  however,  upon  his  good  city  of  Ghent ;  there  the 
disaffection  on  his  return  was  general.  "  They  began  to 
murmur  and  to  talk  together  in  little  groups  (says  the 
Chronicle),  saying,  '  Here  is  a  man  who  is  too  much  the 
master,  and  who  would  compel  the  county  of  Flanders  to 
do  his  behest,  which  cannot  be  tolerated.' '  "  As  Jacques 
van  Arteveldt  rode  through  the  streets,  he  soon  perceived 
that  there  was  some  change  in  the  feeling  towards  him, 
and  returning  quickly  to  his  residence,  he  caused  the  doors 
thereof  to  be  closed." 

This  precaution  was  not  taken  too  soon  ;  a  furious  crowd 
already  surrounded  the  house,  demanding  the  public  treasure 
of  Flanders,  which  had  been  sent,  they  said,  to  England 
by  Arteveldt.  "  He  therefore  replied  very  meekly,  '  Verily, 
gentlemen,  as  to  the  treasures  of  Flanders,  I  have  not 
taken  one  single  penny.'  4  No,  no,'  they  cried  ;  *  we  know 
the  truth,  that  you  have  emptied  the  public  coffers  and 
sent  the  contents  to  England  secretly,  for  which  act  you 


VAN   ARTEVELDE   AT   HIS   DOOR. 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE   HUNDRED   YEARS'   WAR.  303 

must  suffer  death.'  When  Arteveldt  heard  these  words  he 
clasped  his  hands  and  burst  into  tears,  saying  at  the  same 
time,  '  Gentlemen,  such  as  I  am  so  have  you  made  me,  and 
you  formerly  swore  that  you  would  defend  and  protect  me. 
Do  you  not  know  how  trade  languished  in  this  country? 
I  restored  it  to  you.  And  then  I  governed  you  so  peace 
fully  that  you  have  had  everything  at  will :  wheat,  wool, 
and  every  species  of  commodity  with  which  you  have  been 
clothed  and  become  fat.'  But  the  people  cried  out,  '  Come 
down,  and  do  not  preach  to  us  from  so  great  a  height.' 
(Arteveldt  was  at  a  window.)  Thereupon  Arteveldt  closed 
the  shutter  of  the  window,  and  determined  to  go  out  at  the 
rear  and  take  refuge  in  a  church  which  adjoined  his  resi 
dence  ;  but  already  the  doors  had  been  burst  open,  admit 
ting  more  than  four  hundred  persons,  all  eager  to  capture 
him.  Finally,  he  was  captured  among  them  and  slain  on 
the  spot  without  mercy.  Thus  ended  the  career  of  Arte 
veldt,  who  in  his  time  was  so  great  a  ruler  in  Flanders. 
To  the  poorer  classes  he  owed  his  princely  elevation,  and 
at  the  hands  of  the  malignant  populace  he  came  to  his 
end." 

When  the  news  of  the  death  of  Arteveldt  reached  King 
Edward  at  Sluys,  he  was  irritated  and  despondent ;  all  his 
schemes  were  frustrated  through  the  loss  of  his  faithful  ally, 
and  he  therefore  set  sail  for  England,  vowing  to  be  avenged 
on  the  Flemings.  The  latter  greatly  feared  his  resentment ; 
the  wool  which  was  so  necessary  in  their  manufactures  was 
imported  almost  exclusively  from  England.  They  dispatched 
an  embassy  to  London  for  the  purpose  of  exonerating  them 
selves,  and  in  order  to  hint  at  the  possibility  of  a  marriage 
between  the  daughter  of  King  Edward  and  the  young 
damoiseau,  the  heir  of  Flanders.  "  Thus  would  the  county 
of  Flanders  always  remain  to  one  of  your  children."  These 


304  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

representations,  together  with  others,  softened  greatly  the 
resentment  of  King  Edward,  who  finally  declared  himself 
well  pleased  with  the  Flemings,  as  were  the  Flemings  with 
him ;  thus  by  degrees  was  the  death  of  Jacques  van  Arte- 
veldt  partially  forgotten  on  both  sides. 

Meanwhile  the  preparations  for  the  passage  to  France 
were  completed.  The  army  was  numerous  and  spirited ;  the 
project  openly  announced  was  to  pass  into  Gascony,  there 
to  sustain  the  Earl  of  Derby,  who  was  hemmed  in  by  the 
Duke  of  Normandy ;  but  Godefroy  d'Harcourt,  a  French 
baron  in  exile  in  England,  urged  Edward  to  attack  Nor 
mandy,  a  rich  and  undefended  country.  The  king  resolved 
to  adopt  the  course  proposed,  and  on  the  12th  of  July,  1346, 
he  disembarked  at  La  Hogue  ;  immediately  on  landing  his 
foot  slipped,  and  he  fell.  "  So  return  into  your  ship,  cher 
sire"  said  the  English  knights,  "for  this  is  a  bad  omen  for 
you  ;  "  to  which  the  king  replied  pointedly  and  without  hesi 
tation,  "  Why  so  ?  It  is  a  very  good  sign,  for  the  land 
evidently  wishes  for  me."  At  which  all  the  barons  were 
greatly  rejoiced. 

The  soil  of  Normandy  was  unwise  to  wish  for  King  Ed 
ward,  for  he  pillaged  and  burned  down  everything  before 
him.  Barfleur,  Carentan,  and  Saint-L5  had  already  suc 
cumbed  when  he  appeared  before  Caen.  The  burghers  had 
mustered  all  their  forces,  and  the  Count  d'Eu,  the  Con 
stable  of  France,  with  the  Count  de  Tancarville,  was  there, 
supported  by  gallant  knights.  "  But  as  soon  as  the  burghers 
beheld  the  approach  of  the  English,  who  were  approaching 
in  three  lines,  close  and  compact,  and  saw  these  banners 
and  these  pennants  flying  and  streaming  in  the  wind,  and 
heard  the  cries  of  these  archers  whom  they  were  not  accus 
tomed  to  see  or  hear,  they  were  so  alarmed  and  discomfited 
among  themselves  that  nothing  in  the  world  could  have 


CHAP.  XL]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  305 

hindered  their  taking  to  flight ;  accordingly  they  dispersed 
towards  their  town  in  disorder,  without  consulting  the  Con 
stable  of  France  in  the  matter." 

When  the  knights  found  that  they  were  no  longer  sup 
ported  by  the  burghers,  they  surrendered  to  Sir  Thomas 
Holland,  and  the  King  of  England  commanded  that  no  harm 
should  be  done  in  the  city  of  Caen,  where  "  the  English 
remained  during  three  days,  and  therein  captured  such  magnifi 
cent  booty,  marvellous  to  think  of,  which  they  immediately 
dispatched  to  England,  while  the  king  was  riding  towards 
Paris,"  taking  Louviers,  Vernon,  and  Yerneuil.  They  arrived 
at  Poissy ;  and  the  marshals  of  the  English  army  even  ad 
vanced  as  far  as  Saint-Germain,  Neuilly,  Saint-Cloud,  Bou 
logne,  and  Bourg-la-Reine,  "  whereat  the  inhabitants  of  Paris 
were  greviously  disquieted." 

King  Philip  had  convoked  all  his  followers,  and  a  large 
army  was  beginning  to  assemble  round  him ;  the  French  en 
deavored  to  gain  time,  in  order  to  muster  in  numbers  and 
overwhelm  their  enemies  by  superior  forces.  The  depreda 
tions  committed  around  Paris  had  meanwhile  spread  uneasi 
ness  at  the  court,  and  the  king  proceeded  to  St.  Denis, 
where  his  allies  were  assembled,  "  the  King  of  Bohemia,  John 
of  Hainault,  who  had  become  French ;  the  Duke  of  Lorraine, 
the  Count  of  Flanders,  the  Count  of  Blois,  and  a  great  num 
ber  of  barons  and  knights.  When  the  inhabitants  of  Paris 
saw  that  their  sovereign  was  leaving  them,  they  were  more 
alarmed  than  before,  and  came  and  knelt  down  before  him. 
4  Ah  !  sire  and  noble  king,  what  would  you  do  ?  Would  you 
thus  depart  and  leave  the  good  city  of  Paris?  Here  your 
enemies  are  but  two  leagues  distant,  and  soon  will  be  in 
this  city,  where  we  have  not  and  shall  not  have  any  one 
to  defend  us  against  them ! '  4  Fear  nothing,  my  good  folk,' 
said  the  king,  4  the  English  will  not  come  to  you,  for  I  shall 
39 


306  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

march  against    them  and    attack   them,  howsoever    they  may 
be.'  " 

King  Edward  had  left  Poissy  on  the  16th  of  August,  1346, 
taking  the  road  to  Picardy  ;  he  was  expecting  a  reinforcement 
of  the  Flemings,  who  had  promised  to  invade  the  French  ter 
ritory,  and  he  was  anxious  to  be  nearer  to  his  auxiliaries. 
King  Philip  followed  closely  upon  his  steps.  The  army  of 
the  French  monarch  increased  day  by  day,  and  he  hoped  to 
overtake  his  enemies,  in  order  to  give  battle  to  them  before 
they  could  cross  the  Somme.  The  English  were  vainly  seek 
ing  a  ford,  and  tidings  had  been  received  that  Philip  had 
arrived  at  Amiens.  Edward  had  caused  all  the  prisoners  who 
had  been  taken  in  the  county  of  Ponthieu  to  be  brought  to 
Oisemont,  where  he  was  encamped,  and  said  to  them  "  very 
courteously,  4  Is  there  a  man  among  you  who  knows  of  a  pas 
sage  which  should  be  below  Abbeville,  where  we  and  our 
army  may  cross  without  danger  ?  If  there  is  any  one  who 
will  inform  us  of  this,  we  will  release  him  from  prison  as  well 
as  twenty  of  his  comrades,  in  gratitude  to  him.'  Whereupon 
a  fellow  named  Gobin  Agace,  who  had  been  born  and  bred 
near  the  passage  of  the  Blanche-Tache,  advanced  and  said  to 
the  king,  4  Sire,  yes,  in  the  name  of  God,  I  know  it  and 
will  conduct  you  to  it.'  When  the  King  of  England  heard 
these  words  he  was  rejoiced,  and  orders  were  given  to  his 
soldiery  to  be  in  readiness  by  sunrise ;  for  the  salt  tide  flowed 
as  high  as  the  Blanche-Tache,  and  it  was  desirable  to  take 
advantage  of  the  ebb  for  crossing  over."  On  arriving  before 
the  ford,  they  there  saw  a  noble  knight  named  Godemar  de 
Fay,  who  bravely  defended  the  passage ;  "  but  he  was  de 
feated  with  all  his  men,"  and  the  English  found  themselves 
on  the  other  side,  whither  King  Philip  was  eager  to  follow 
them,  when  he  had  heard  the  news;  but  the  flood  tide  had 
already  returned,  and  it  was  necessary  to  wait  until  the  mor- 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE   HUNDRED  YEARS'    WAR.  307 

row,  while  King  Edward,  who  was  still  riding  forward,  had 
taken  possession  of  Le  Crotoy,  and  had  arrived  at  the  county 
of  Ponthieu. 

He  was  in  the  open  country  not  far  from  Crecy,  when  he 
said  to  his  men,  "  Let  us  halt  here  for  a  while.  I  will  go 
no  further  until  I  shall  have  seen  our  enemies,  for  I  stand 
upon  the  rightful  inheritance  of  that  noble  lady  my  mother, 
which  was  given  to  her  on  her  marriage  ;  so  will  I  defend 
it  against  my  adversary,  Philip  of  Valois ! "  And  the  king 
and  his  followers  encamped  upon  the  open  plain,  the  king 
superintending  all  its  labors.  For  his  army  was  small  in  com 
parison  with  that  of  the  King  of  France,  who  was  constantly 
being  joined  by  fresh  barons  and  allies,  who  were  unable  to 
find  quarters  in  the  good  town  of  Abbeville,  and  were  en 
camped  in  the  surrounding  neighborhood. 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  August ;  King  Edward 
had  attended  mass  and  taken  the  communion,  as  had  also  his 
son,  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  and  he  had  drawn  up  his  men  in 
three  battle  corps,  intrusting  the  first  to  the  command  of  the 
young  prince,  supported  by  the  Earls  of  Warwick  and  Oxford ; 
Northampton  and  Arundel  were  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
second,  while  the  third  the  king  reserved  for  himself.  "  When 
the  three  divisions  were  arranged,  and  every  earl,  baron,  and 
knight  knew  what  he  had  to  do,  the  King  of  England,  seated 
upon  a  small  white  palfrey,  with  his  rod  in  his  hand,  rode 
slowly  from  line  to  line,  admonishing  and  exhorting  the  earls, 
the  barons,  and  the  knights  to  understand  and  reflect  that 
for  his  honor  they  must  guard  and  defend  his  right ;  and  he 
said  these  things  to  them  smiling  so  pleasantly  and  with  so 
joyous  a  manner,  that  whoever  had  been  previously  quite 
dejected  began  to  take  comfort  on  hearing  and  beholding  him. 
He  then  commanded  that  all  the  men  should  eat  at  their 
ease  and  drink  a  draught ;  after  which  they  sat  down  upon 


308  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XL 

the  ground  with  their  casques  and  crossbows  in  front  of 
them,  in  order  to  be  more  fresh  and  better  prepared  on  the 
arrival  of  their  enemies ;  for  it  was  the  intention  of  the  King 
of  England  to  await  his  enemy,  the  King  of  France,  upon 
that  spot,  and  there  to  oppose  him  and  his  power." 

Meanwhile  King  Philip  had  marched  forward  with  all  his 
forces,  dispatching  before  him  four  of  his  best  knights  to 
examine  the  positions  of  the  English.  "  Sire,"  said,  on  his 
return,  the  most  renowned  among  them,  called  the  Monk 
of  Basele,  "  the  English  are  drawn  up  and  arranged  in  good 
order,  and  await  you.  Therefore  it  is  well  that  your  men 
should  halt  in  the  fields  and  rest  for  the  remainder  of  this 
day,  for  they  are  fatigued.  It  is  late,  and  to-morrow  you 
will  be  able  with  more  leisure  to  consider  on  which  side  you 
can  attack  your  enemies,  for  you  may  rest  assured  that  they 
will  await  your  coming." 

The  king  perceived  the  wisdom  of  the  advice,  and  the 
two  marshals  of  the  army  rode  on,  one  in  front  and  the 
other  in  the  rear,  exclaiming,  "  Halt,  banners !  by  order 
of  the  king,  in  the  name  of  God  and  St.  Denis."  The  fore 
most  among  them  obeyed  at  once  and  drew  up;  but  not  so 
those  in  the  rear,  who  still  urged  their  horses  forward,  saying 
they  would  not  stop  until  they  had  gone  as  far  as  those  ill 
advance  of  them.  Whereupon  the  front  ranks  recommenced 
their  onward  march,  "  and  through  their  great  pride  and  van 
ity,  neither  the  king  nor  his  two  marshals  could  exact  obe 
dience  from  them,  for  there  were  such  distinguished  warriors 
and  such  a  large  number  of  great  noblemen,  that  each  desired 
on  this  occasion  to  show  his  power." 

This  marching  soon  brought  them  within  sight  of  the  Eng 
lish.  When  the  French  knights  in  the  front  ranks  first  saw 
them,  they  were  smitten  with  shame  at  their  disorderly  ap 
pearance,  and  fell  back  a  few  steps  ;  those  who  were  behind 


CHAP.  XL]  THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  309 

thought  that  an  engagement  had  taken  place,  and  that  they 
had  been  defeated  ;  they  pressed  forward  with  all  the  citizens 
and  inhabitants  of  Abbeville  who  had  followed  the  army. 
When  they  saw  the  enemy  they  cried,  "  Death  to  them ! 
Death  to  them  ! "  drawing  and  brandishing  at  the  same  time 
their  swords  ;  the  confusion  increased  every  minute. 

King  Philip  had  seen  the  enemy,  as  well  as  his  soldiers, 
"  and  his  blood  was  stirred,  for  he  hated  them."  He  forgot 
all ;  the  prudent  advice  of  the  Monk  of  Basele,  the  fatigue 
of  his  troops  and  their  disorder ;  and  he  exclaimed,  "  Send 
our  Genoese  troops  in  front,  and  let  us  begin  the  battle  in 
the  name  of  God  and  St.  Denis !  " 

The  Genoese  soldiers  were  weary  after  their  long  march ; 
they  murmured  ;  at  the  same  instant  a  violent  tempest  arose  ; 
the  rain  fell  in  torrents.  They  were  in  the  presence  of  the 
English  troops  who  had  risen  in  "  very  good  order,  and  with 
out  any  alarm,"  and  had  taken  up  the  positions  assigned  to 
them.  When  the  sky  became  clear  again,  the  sun  shone  in 
the  faces  of  the  French  soldiers  ;  the  Genoese  shouted  as  they 
marched  to  the  combat,  uso  very  loud  that  it  was  marvel 
lous,  in  order  to  terrify  the  English ;  but  they  kept  quite 
quiet  and  made  no  show."  The  crossbow-men  began  to 
shoot ;  but  in  the  midst  of  their  compact  numbers  the  re 
doubtable  English  arrows  were  pouring  down  like  hail,  and 
the  Genoese,  "  who  had  not  learned  to  encounter  such  arch 
ers  as  those  from  England,  when  they  felt  these  bolts  and 
arrows  which  pierced  their  arms,  heads,  and  lips,  were  im 
mediately  discomfited,  and  fell  back  upon  the  bulk  of  the 
army." 

The  knights  were  ready  lance  in  hand,  awaiting  their 
turn.  King  Philip  became  incensed  on  beholding  the  rout 
of  the  Genoese,  who  impeded  his  progress.  "  Now  then,"  he 
cried,  "kill  all  this  rabble  who  bar  the  way  to  no  purpose." 


310  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.        [CHAP.  XI. 

And  the  unhappy  Genoese  fell  by  the  swords  of  their  allies 
as  they  had  previously  fallen  by  the  arrows  of  their  enemies. 
The  French  horsemen  waded  through  their  blood  to  approach 
the  English. 

The  mellay  began,  terrible  and  confused;  the  old  King  of 
Bohemia,  blind  and  surrounded  by  his  followers,  inquired  how 
matters  were  progressing.  This  was  at  the  moment  when 
the  Genoese  were  being  slaughtered.  "  They  fall  back  upon 
each  other,  and  prevent  our  advancing,"  said  his  knights. 
"Ah!"  replied  the  king,  "this  is  the  signal  for  us;  there 
fore,  I  beg  you,  my  men,  friends  and  comrades,  to  lead  me 
so  far  forward  that  I  may  wield  a  sword  against  the  ene 
my."  And  they,  fearing  to  lose  the  king  in  the  confusion, 
bound  their  horses  together  by  the  bridles,  and  "  placed  the 
king  their  lord  in  front,  and  thus  fell  upon  the  enemy  ;  on 
whom  the  king  inflicted  blows  one  after  the  other,  and  all 
remained  there  and  riot  one  stirred,"  for  all  the  knights  were 
on  the  morrow  found  dead  around  their  master. 

Meanwhile  the  King  of  England  did  not  fight ;  he  had 
not  even  donned  his  helmet,  and  contemplated  the  battle 
from  a  little  eminence.  The  French  cavalry  were  closely 
pressing  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  the  Earl  of  Northampton  de 
sired  the  king  to  come  to  his  son's  aid.  "  Is  my  son  dead, 
unhorsed,  or  so  wounded  that  he  cannot  help  himself  ? " 
asked  Edward  of  the  messenger.  "  No,  my  lord  ;  but  he  is 
in  the  thick  of  the  fray,  and  is  in  great  need  of  your  assist 
ance."  "  Return  to  those  who  sent  you,"  answered  the  king, 
"  and  tell  them  not  to  send  for  me  again  while  my  son  is 
still  alive,  but  to  let  the  youth  win  his  spurs ;  for  I  in 
tend,  if  it  please  God,  that  this  day  be  his."  And  thus  was 
it  done. 

The  French  were  exhausting  themselves  in  vain  ;  their 
numbers  and  their  valor  had  not  been  able  to  triumph  over 


CHAP.  XL]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  311 

the  disorder  and  the  unskilful  arrangement  of  the  troops. 
Their  best  warriors  lay  stretched  upon  the  field  of  battle,  and 
nightfall  approached.  John  of  Hainault  seized  the  bridle  of 
the  horse  upon  which  the  King  of  France  was  seated,  and 
dragged  him  away  from  the  struggle.  They  rode  along  in 
silence  ;  five  horsemen  only  followed  the  king.  They  arrived 
at  the  gate  of  a  castle,  but  the  drawbridge  was  raised. 
"  Open,"  said  Philip ;  "  it  is  the  unfortunate  King  of  France 
who  entreats  you."  After  resting  for  a  while  he  resumed  his 
journey  towards  Amiens,  while  the  English,  who  had  not  pur 
sued  the  enemy,  were  gathering  together  by  torchlight  around 
the  tent  of  King  Edward;  the  latter  had  just  left  the  hill 
and  advanced  towards  the  prince,  whom  he  embraced.  "  My 
gallant  son,"  he  said,  "  God  give  you  good  perseverance  ;  you 
are  my  son,  and  have  loyally  acquitted  }~ourself;  you  are 
worthy  to  be  a  sovereign."  The  dead  being  interred,  King 
Edward  marched  towards  Calais,  to  which  he  laid  siege  on 
the  31st  of  August.  The  town  was  strong,  and  the  garrison 
was  known  to  be  resolute.  The  English  proceeded  to  build 
a  town  of  wood  around  the  ramparts,  King  Philip  had 
recalled  from  Guienne  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  thus  reliev 
ing  the  Earl  of  Derby,  who  was  closely  besieged  in  Bordeaux, 
and  Sir  Walter  de  Manny,  who  was  defending  Aiguillon. 
These  two  knights  had  nothing  more  at  present  to  do  than 
to  rejoin  King  Edward  before  Calais.  They  did  not  know  how 
long  a  time  was  destined  to  elapse  before  the  surrender  of 
that  town. 

The  position  of  the  King  of  France  was  becoming  serious ; 
he  endeavored  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  enemy.  His 
ally,  David,  King  of  Scotland,  had  promised  to  attempt  an 
invasion  of  England  ;  the  moment  seemed  propitious,  all  the 
English  commanders  and  knights  were  beyond  the  sea.  At 
the  end  of  September,  1346,  David  marched  therefore  into 


312  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XI. 

the  county  of  Cumberland  with  a  considerable  army,  pillaging 
and  sacking  everything  on  their  way.  Queen  Philippa  had 
already  levied  some  troops,  and  at  Newcastle,  where  she  was 
stationed,  she  was  better  informed  of  the  movements  of  the 
Scots  than  the  latter  were  of  her  preparations  for  resistance. 
The  English  army  assembled  in  the  park  of  Auckland,  unknown 
to  King  David.  No  commander-in-chief  had  been  appointed  ; 
but  four  prelates  and  as  many  barons  marched  at  the  head 
of  the  troops,  uand  the  good  dame,  Queen  Philippa,  prayed 
and  admonished  them  to  do  their  duty  well,"  says  Froissart. 
As  she  was  returning  to  Newcastle,  on  the  17th  of  October, 
Douglas,  the  Lord  of  Liddesdale,  who  was  coming  back  from 
a  plundering  expedition,  fell  among  the  English,  whose  pres 
ence  he  did  not  suspect,  and  with  difficulty  cut  his  way 
through  them.  The  King  of  Scotland  immediately  drew  up 
his  forces  on  the  plain  of  Nevil's  Cross.  He  fought  valiantly ; 
but,  having  been  twice  wounded,  he  was  made  a  prisoner  by 
a  plain  esquire,  named  John  Copeland,  who  conducted  him 
to  his  castle.  The  Scottish  earls  and  barons  lay  stretched 
upon  the  field  of  battle,  or  had  fallen  alive  into  the  hands 
of  their  enemies.  The  queen  was  rejoicing  at  Newcastle ; 
t  she  sent  to  John  Copeland,  commanding  that  the  King  of 
Scotland  should  be  given  up  to  her.  "  I  will  surrender  hirn 
to  no  man  or  woman  except  my  lord,  the  King  of  England," 
replied  the  worthy  esquire ;  "  and  be  not  uneasy  upon  his 
account,  for  I  intend  to  keep  him  so  carefully  that  I  will 
render  good  account  of  him."  The  queen  was  not  quite  sat 
isfied,  however,  and  with  the  good  news  of  victory  the  reply 
of  the  stubborn  esquire  arrived  at  Calais.  "  King  Edward 
had  great  joy  in  the  good  fortune  that  God  had  bestowed 
on  his  people,  and  he  immediately  summoned  John  Copeland 
to  come  to  him  at  Calais."  The  esquire  placed  his  prisoner 
in  a  place  of  safety  "  in  a  strong  castle,  on  the  borders  of 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  813 

Northumberland  and  Galloway,  and  proceeded  to  Calais,  to 
the  quarters  of  the  king." 

"Welcome,"  said  Edward,  on  seeing  Copeland,  "my  faith 
ful  esquire,  who  by  your  valor  have  made  a  prisoner  of  our 
adversary  the  King  of  Scotland."  "  Sire,"  said  John,  kneel 
ing,  "  God  in  His  great  goodness  has  so  willed  it  that  He 
has  delivered  the  King  of  Scotland  into  my  hands,  for  He 
can,  if  it  please  Him,  bestow  his  grace  upon  a  poor  esquire 
as  well  as  upon  a  great  nobleman.  And,  sire,  do  not  bear 
me  any  ill-will  if  I  did  not  immediately  surrender  him  to 
the  queen,  for  it  is  to  you  that  I  have  sworn  allegiance." 
The  king  smiled.  "  But  you  will  now  take  your  prisoner, 
John,"  he  said,  "and  take  him  to  my  wife."  And  he  loaded 
with  presents  the  esquire,  who  returned  well  content.  King 
David  was  promptly  lodged  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

The  war  still  continued  in  Brittany.  Charles  of  Blois  had 
been  made  a  prisoner  before  Roche-Derrien,  on  the  18th  of 
June,  1347,  and  had  joined  King  David  in  his  captivity; 
while  Joan  the  Lame  was  maintaining  the  struggle  against 
the  allies  of  the  Count  of  Montfort,  who  were  still  directed 
by  her  mother,  the  Countess  Joan,  and  against  the  sudden 
attacks  of  Joan  of  Belleville,  the  widow  of  Oliver  de  Clisson. 
This  women's  war  was  neither  the  least  skilful  nor  the  least 
sanguinary.  Edward  III.  was  still  before  Calais. 

The  town  was  reduced  to  the  last  extremity.  Twice  al 
ready  had  the  non-combatants  been  expelled.  Sheltered  at 
first  by  King  Edward,  these  unhappy  wretches,  driven  out 
of  the  famine-stricken  town,  afterwards  had  died  of  hunger 
and  destitution  between  the  two  camps.  John  of  Vienne,  a 
valiant  knight  in  command  at  Calais,  had  sent  information 
to  King  Philip  of  the  desperate  situation  in  which  he  was 
placed.  "  Remember,  sire,  that  there  remains  nothing  uneaten 
in  the  town ;  not  a  dog,  a  cat,  or  a  horse ;  so  that  of  pro- 

VOL.  I.  40 


314  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

visions  we  can  find  none  in  the  place  —  unless  we  eat  the 
flesh  of  our  people."  Philip  of  Valois  unfurled  the  oriflamme, 
and  summoned  his  knights  round  it,  to  march  to  the  deliv 
erance  of  his  good  town  of  Calais. 

The  rejoicing  was  general  inside  the  town ;  the  banners 
of  the  French  army  were  visible  flying  in  the  air,  and  their 
white  tents  glistened  in  the  sun  on  the  Mount  of  Sangatte. 
The  citizens  already  thought  that  their  deliverance  had  been 
effected.  But  the  King  of  England  had  taken  his  precau 
tions;  the  road  along  the  Dunes  was  protected  by  English 
vessels  well  furnished  with  archers.  The  road  across  the 
marshes  was  defended  by  the  Earl  of  Derby,  who  was  sta 
tioned  on  the  bridge  of  Nieulay,  which  the  king  had  fortified 
with  towers.  The  French  knights  sent  out  to  reconnoitre, 
after  examining  the  ground,  informed  the  king  that  it  was 
impossible  to  cross  it.  "  Thereupon  King  Philip  sent  emis 
saries  to  the  King  of  England,  to  pray  and  require  him  to 
choose  with  them  a  spot  whereon  one  might  fight,  and  thither 
to  come  and  confront  the  King  of  France." 

Edward  had  formerly  challenged  King  Philip,  who  had 
declined  to  encounter  him ;  it  was  now  his  turn.  "  My 
lord,"  he  said  to  the  emissary  from  the  French  camp,  "  I 
duly  heard  that  which  you  demand  of  me  on  the  part  of 
my  adversary  who  wrongfully  holds  my  just  inheritance,  to 
my  injury.  Therefore  tell  him  that  I  have  been  here  during 
more  than  a  year,  that  this  was  well  known  to  him,  and 
that  he  might  have  come  sooner  had  he  pleased.  I  have 
spent  heavily  of  my  substance,  and  I  expect  very  shortly  to 
be  master  of  the  town  of  Calais.  Therefore  I  am  not  in 
a  mind  to  obey  his  bidding  and  his  convenience,  nor  to  let 
go  what  I  have  conquered,  what  I  have  so  ardently  de 
sired  and  so  dearly  paid  for.  If  his  men  cannot  pass  that 
way,  let  them  go  round  to  seek  a  path." 


CHAP.  XI.]          THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  315 

This  message  was  reported  to  the  King  of  France,  "  who 
was  incensed  thereat,"  says  Froissart,  but  who  made  no 
effort,  and  again  took  the  road  towards  Amiens ;  the  ban 
ners  disappeared  from  the  Mount  Sangatte  ;  the  tents  were 
struck,  and  inside  the  town  despair  succeeded  to  the  hope 
which  had  for  a  while  sustained  the  brave  citizens.  John  de 
Vienne  ascended  the  walls  of  the  town,  and  made  a  sign 
that  he  wished  to  hold  a  parley.  Sir  Walter  de  Manny 
immediately  approached  him.  "  Good  sir,"  said  the  brave 
governor,  "you  see  that  our  succor  has  failed.  Beg  your 
king  to  have  mercy  upon  us,  and  to  let  us  walk  out  as 
we  are ;  he  will  find  in  the  town  and  the  castle  enough 
of  goods." 

Sir  Walter  de  Manny  knew  of  the  anger  which  the  king 
his  master  had  against  the  inhabitants  of  Calais.  He  shook 
his  head.  "  Sir  John,  Sir  John,"  he  said,  "  the  king  our 
master  will  not  let  you  go  as  you  have  said ;  it  is  his  in 
tention  that  you  shall  all  submit  to  his  will."  "  Never," 
said  John  de  Vienne.  And  he  retired  within  the  town, 
while  the  English  knights  were  proceeding  to  carry  the 
news  of  what  had  passed  to  the  king.  "  You  might  well 
be  wrong,  sire,"  said  Walter  de  Manny,  "  for  you  set  us  a 
bad  example.  If  you  should  wish  to  send  us  to  your  for 
tresses,  we  should  not  go  so  willingly,  if  you  cause  these 
people  to  be  put  to  death ;  for  thus  should  we  be  served 
under  similar  circumstances."  King  Edward  remained  gloomy  ; 
all  the  barons  agreed  with  Sir  Walter.  At  length  Edward 
exclaimed,  "  Gentlemen,  I  will  not  remain  alone  against  you 
all.  Walter,  you  shall  go  to  those  in  Calais,  and  inform  the 
commander  that  the  utmost  mercy  which  they  will  find  in 
me  is,  that  there  shall  issue  forth  from  the  town  of  Calais 
six  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  bareheaded  and  bare 
footed,  with  halters  round  their  necks,  and  the  keys  of  the 


316  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

town  and  of  the  castle  in  their  hands;  and  with  these  I  will 
do  as  I  please.  I  will  show  mercy  to  the  others." 

Sir  Walter  had  borne  the  king's  message  to  Calais.  The 
consternation  was  great  in  the  public  square,  where  all  the 
inhabitants  were  assembled.  They  wept  bitterly  ;  "  even  Sir 
John  de  Vienne  conceived  such  pity  for  them  that  he  cried 
most  tenderly." 

"  At  length  arose  the  richest  citizen  of  the  town,  who 
was  called  Eustache  de  Saint-Pierre,  and  said  in  presence  of 
all,  4  Gentlemen,  great  pity  and  great  wrong  would  it  be  to 
leave  so  great  a  number  of  persons  as  are  here  to  perish, 
by  famine  or  otherwise,  when  some  other  means  can  here  be 
found ;  and  I  have  such  great  hope  of  receiving  grace  and 
forgiveness  through  our  Lord,  if  I  die  to  save  these  people, 
that  I  wish  to  be  the  first,  and  will  willingly  place  myself 
in  my  shirt  bareheaded,  barefooted,  and  with  a  halter  round 
my  neck,  at  the  mercy  of  the  King  of  England.'  And  when 
Eustache  had  uttered  these  words,  several  men  and  women 
threw  themselves  at  his  feet,  weeping  tenderly,  and  it  was 
greatly  affecting  to  be  there,  and  to  hear,  listen  to,  and  look 
at  them." 

The  example  of  devotion  is  contagious.  John  d'Aire,  "  a 
worthy  citizen,  who  had  two  beautiful  damsels  for  daughters, 
declared  that  he  would  accompany  his  fellow-citizen,  Eus 
tache."  James  and  Peter  de  Vissant  did  likewise ;  then  two 
others ;  and  the  six  citizens,  in  their  shirts  and  barefooted, 
with  a  rope  round  their  necks,  the  keys  of  the  town  in 
their  hands,  issued  forth  from  Calais,  conducted  by  Sir  John 
de  Vienne,  upon  his  little  horse,  for  he  was  too  unwell  to 
walk.  Amid  the  cries  and  tears  of  the  population  he  con 
signed  the  condemned  men  to  Walter  de  Manny.  "  I  beg 
you,  gentle  sir,"  he  said,  "to  intercede  for  them  with  the 
King  of  England,  that  these  poor  men  may  not  be  put  to 


CHAP.  XL]  THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  317 

death."  The  worthy  knight  was  anxious  to  do  so,  but  he 
advanced  without  speaking.  They  arrived  before  the  King 
of  England. 

Edward  was  in  the  road  outside  his  residence ;  all  his 
knights  surrounded  him.  Queen  Philippa  was  by  his  side. 
"  When  he  saw  the  citizens  he  remained  very  still  and  looked 
very  cruelly  at  them,  for  he  hated  those  of  Calais  for  the 
great  damage  and  checks  which  they  had  caused  to  his  ships 
in  bygone  times."  The  unhappy  men  had  fallen  on  their 
knees,  offering  to  the  king  the  keys  of  the  town,  and  begging 
for  mercy.  All  the  barons  were  in  tears,  "being  unable  to 
restrain  themselves  for  pity;"  bat  the  king  eyed  them  an 
grily,  for  he  was  so  hard-hearted  and  smitten  with  such  great 
anger  that  he  was  unable  to  speak.  At  length  he  broke  the 
silence,  and  ordered  that  they  should  instantly  be  beheaded. 
All  the  knights  were  weeping  and  supplicating.  Sir  Walter 
de  Manny,  who  was  entitled  to  speak,  reproached  the  king 
for  his  severity ;  but  Edward  gnashed  his  teeth,  and  said, 
"  Sir  Walter,  hold  your  peace !  It  shall  not  be  otherwise. 
Let  the  headsman  come  forward." 

Queen  Philippa  had  thrown  herself  on  her  knees,  "  crying 
so  tenderly  with  compassion  that  she  could  not  support  her 
self."  "Ah!  gentle  sire,"  she  said,  "since  I  crossed  the  sea 
in  great  peril,  I  have  asked  nothing  of  you;  if  to-day  I 
beg  of  you  as  a  gift  for  the  Son  of  the  Holy  Virgin  and 
the  love  of  me,  that  you  will  have  mercy  on  these  six  men." 
The  king  waited  a  short  time  before  speaking ;  he  eyed  the 
good  lady  his  wife.  "  Ah !  lady,"  he  said,  "  I  should  be 
but  too  pleased  were  you  elsewhere  but  here.  You  beg  so 
earnestly  that  I  dare  not  refuse  you  ;  and,  although  I  do  so 
with  difficulty,  take  them,  I  give  them  to  you ;  do  with  them 
as  you  please."  Then  the  queen  rose,  saying,  "  My  lord, 
many  thanks !  "  And  she  took  with  her  the  six  citizens,  and 


318  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XL 

caused  them  to  be  clothed  and  fed  at  their  ease  ;  she  then 
sent  them  away  from  the  army  in  safety.  They  went  and 
established  themselves  in  different  towns  in  Picardy,  while 
Edward  took  possession  of  Calais  on  the  3d  of  August, 
1347.  Queen  Philippa  was  quartered  in  the  house  of  John 
d'Aire,  which  the  king  had  given  to  her ;  "  and  there  was 
such  merrymaking  as  was  marvellous,  except  among  the  poor 
inhabitants  of  Calais,  who  wept  secretly  in  their  dwellings." 
The  king  had  resolved  to  establish  an  English  population 
at  Calais,  and  the  former  possessors  were  about  to  quit  for 
ever  that  town,  which  they  had  so  valiantly  defended. 

Calais  had  fallen,  and  King  Edward's  vengeance  was  ap 
peased.  The  legates  of  the  Pope  had  recommenced  their 
work  of  conciliation.  A  truce  was  concluded,  for  a  few 
months  at  first,  and  afterwards  prolonged  from  time  to  time 
for  six  years.  The  finances  of  France  were  exhausted ; 
the  English  Parliament  refused  the  subsidies,  and  the  Black 
Plague,  come  from  the  East,  was  ravaging  Europe.  France 
and  England,  already  weakened  by  wars,  saw  their  popula 
tions  decimated  by  the  pestilence.  It  was  in  vain  that  the 
Flagellants  overran  the  towns  and  villages,  lacerating  them 
selves  with  whips,  to  appease  the  anger  of  God  ;  it  was  in 
vain  that  the  Jews,  accused  of  poisoning  the  fountains,  were 
slaughtered ;  the  cemeteries  of  London  could  not  contain 
the  dead,  so  that  Sir  Walter  de  Manny  made  a  present  to 
the  city  of  a  new  site.  King  Edward  issued  an  edict  to 
compel  all  able-bodied  men  to  accept  work  ;  the  fields  re 
mained  uncultivated,  and  famine  threatened  the  districts  rav 
aged  by  the  plague.  Notwithstanding  the  armistice,  fighting 
was  still  carried  on  in  Guienne,  in  Brittany,  and  as  far  as 
Calais.  The  governor,  Ay m eric  of  Pavia,  had  promised  to 
surrender  the  town  to  the  French  for  a  large  sum.  Was  it 
an  act  of  treachery,  and  did  he  himself  cause  King  Edward 


QUEEN  PHILIPPA  AT  THE  FEET  OF  THE  KING. 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS1    WAR.  319 

to  be  informed  of  the  bargain  which  he  had  concluded  ?  This 
may  be  supposed,  since  he  escaped  the  anger  of  his  master ; 
but  the  King  of  England  crossed  the  Channel  very  secretly, 
and  arrived  at  Calais  at  the  moment  when  Geoffrey  de 
Chargny  was  approaching  to  enter  the  town.  The  knights 
proceeded  towards  the  gates.  Edward  had  put  aside  all  his 
insignia  of  royalty,  and  fought  under  the  standard  of  Walter 
de  Manny.  Twice  he  staggered  under  the  blows  of  Eustace 
of  Ribaumont ;  but,  having  at  length  triumphed  over  the 
brave  Picard,  at  the  moment  when  the  French  were  retreat 
ing  in  disorder,  he  led  him  into  the  castle,  Ribaumont  not 
knowing  the  name  of  his  conqueror.  At  supper,  Edward 
rose,  and  taking  the  pearl  necklace  which  he  wore  on  his 
hood,  he  placed  it  upon  that  of  Sir  Eustace.  "Sir  Eustace," 
said  he,  "  I  give  you  this  chaplet,  as  the  best  combatant  of 
the  day,  of  those  within  and  without  the  town,  and  I  beg 
that  you  will  wear  it  this  year,  for  love  of  me,  saying  every 
where  that  I  gave  it  to  you.  I  release  you  from  your  prison, 
and  you  can  depart  to-morrow,  if  you  please."  "  And  Sir 
Eustace  of  Ribaumont  was  much  rejoiced."  Aymeric  of 
Pavia  had  less  reason  to  congratulate  himself  upon  the  suc 
cess  of  the  day.  Geoffrey  de  Chargny  surprised  him  in  the 
castle  wherein  he  had  taken  refuge,  and  put  him  to  death 
as  a  traitor. 

Another  occasion  caused  graver  danger  to  the  life  of  King 
Edward.  The  Spanish  pirates  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay  were 
desolating  the  coast  of  Flanders  and  hampering  the  com 
merce  with  England.  King  Edward  resolved  to  punish  their 
insolence,  and,  on  the  20th  of  August,  1350,  after  having 
cruised  about  during  three  days  between  Dover  and  Calais, 
announcement  was  made  of  the  approach  of  the  vessels  led 
by  Don  Carlos  de  La  Cerda,  the  chief  of  the  association  of 
pirates.  The  engagement  began  with  great  fury  on  both 


320  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

sides.  The  king  had  directed  his  vessel  against  a  large 
Spanish  ship  ;  several  leaks  had  been  opened  by  the  shock, 
and  the  English  vessel  was  about  to  founder,  when  the 
sailors,  making  a  desperate  effort,  boarded  and  seized  the 
enemy's  ship,  and  took  refuge  upon  their  conquest.  The 
Prince  of  Wales,  in  a  similar  peril,  had  been  saved  by  the 
Earl  of  Derby.  After  the  victory,  which  had  been  dearly 
bought,  King  Edward  proceeded  to  rejoin  the  queen  at  Win- 
chelsea.  Her  servants  had  already  brought  her  tidings  of  the 
battle,  which  they  had  anxiously  watched  from  the  heights. 
A  truce  of  twenty  years  was  concluded  between  the  King 
of  England  and  the  seaport  towns  of  Castile. 

The  armistice,  traversed  by  so  many  different  combats  and 
perils,  was  about  to  expire.  Philip  of  Valois  had  died  in 
1350,  and  his  son,  John  the  Good,  had  at  first  appeared 
disposed  to  accept  the  proposals  for  peace  of  the  King  of 
England.  At  a  conference  which  had  taken  place  at  Guines, 
Edward  III.  had  offered  to  relinquish  his  claims  upon  the 
kingdom  of  France,  provided  that  he  might  obtain  absolute 
possession  of  the  provinces  which  he  held  as  vassal,  in  his 
own  name  or  in  that  of  the  queen ;  but  the  French  barons 
would  not  agree  to  this  dismemberment  of  the  territory. 
The  king  was  young,  ardent,  and  fond  of  glory  :  he  did  not 
resist  their  entreaties.  The  proposals  of  the  King  of  England 
were  rejected.  He  complained  loudly  of  the  bad  faith  of  his 
adversaries,  and  obtained  money  of  the  Parliament  to  pre 
pare  for  the  renewal  of  the  hostilities.  An  expedition  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  in  Guienne,  and  an  incursion  of  King 
Edward  into  the  north  of  France,  had  not  achieved  great 
success.  The  king  was  soon  recalled  to  England  by  an 
attack  of  the  Scots  upon  Berwick.  The  unhappy  town,  buf 
feted  about  from  master  to  master  by  bloody  sieges,  had 
recently  been  retaken  by  Edward,  who  penetrated  further 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE   HUNDRED   YEARS'    WAR.  321 

into  Scotland,  and  ravaged  the  whole  country.  According 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  period,  that  a  people  could  be  sold  or 
bought,  Edward  had  paid  Baliol  for  his  rights  to  the  throne 
of  Scotland  a  pension  of  two  thousand  marks  of  silver,  and 
once  more  claimed  to  enslave  the  Scotch.  The  want  of  pro 
visions  in  a  devastated  country  compelled  him  to  retire.  For 
a  long  time  the  memory  of  this  expedition  served  to  ani 
mate  the  ardor  of  the  Scots  during  their  invasions  into  Eng 
land.  "  Remember  burnt  Candlemas,"  they  would  cry  to 
each  other.  It  was  the  title  which  had  been  given  to  that 
series  of  pillages  and  conflagrations. 

Edward  had  not  yet  quitted  England,  and  had  not  even 
been  able  to  send  reinforcements  to  the  Black  Prince,  as 
the  Prince  of  Wales  was  called  by  reason  of  the  color  of 
his  armor,  when  the  latter  took  the  field,  towards  the  end 
of  June,  1356,  with  the  object  of  ravaging  the  French  prov 
inces.  An  expedition  of  this  kind,  effected  in  the  preceding 
year,  had  brought  him  a  great  deal  of  booty.  He  had  over 
run  Agdnois,  Limousin,  Auvergne,  and  had  arrived  as  far  as 
Berry.  Repulsed  before  Bourges  and  Issoudun,  he  had  taken 
Vierzon,  burned  down  Romorantin,  and  was  beginning  to 
fall  back  in  the  direction  of  Guienne  with  the  fruits  of  his 
pillage,  when  King  John,  quitting  Chartres,  advanced  towards 
Poitiers.  The  devastation  caused  by  the  Black  Prince  had 
exasperated  the  country  populations.  Nobody  warned  him 
of  the  danger  to  which  he  was  about  to  expose  himself  when, 
in  his  turn,  he  took  the  road  to  Poitiers  with  his  little 
army.  Suddenly,  on  the  17th  of  September,  1356,  the  English 
advanced  guard  found  itself  immediately  in  the  rear  of  the 
French  forces;  the  couriers  saw  the  country  covered  with 
troops ;  the  retreat  towards  Guienne  was  cut  off.  "  May 
God  interpose,"  said  the  Prince,  seized  with  great  anxiety  ; 
44  we  must  have  advice  and  counsel  how  we  shall  fight  them 

VOL.  i.  41 


322  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

with  advantage."  And  at  the  same  time  the  King  of  France 
was  saying  in  his  army,  "  Truly,  gentlemen,  when  you  are 
at  Paris,  at  Chartres,  at  Rouen,  or  at  Orleans,  you  threaten 
the  English  and  you  wish  to  stand  before  them  ready  for 
the  fray.  Now  are  you  there,  I  show  them  to  you ;  here 
you  must  show  your  displeasure,  for,  without  mishap,  we 
shall  fight  them."  And  those  who  had  heard  him  answered, 
"  May  God  decide,  all  this  will  we  willingly  see." 

It  was  on  the  18th  of  September,  in  the  morning.  All 
the  flower  of  the  French  chivalry  thronged  around  the  king 
and  his  four  sons.  It  is  affirmed  that  the  French  army  num 
bered  more  than  fifty  thousand  men.  The  forces  of  the 
Black  Prince  did  not  amount  to  twelve  thousand ;  but  the 
English  had  prudently  intrenched  themselves  behind  some 
hedges  and  underwood  in  the  midst  of  the  vines  ;  they  could 
only  be  approached  by  a  narrow  road,  lined  with  archers. 
At  the  moment  when,  by  the  advice  of  Eustace  of  Ribaumont, 
the  French  knights  prepared  to  alight  to  make  an  attack, 
the  Cardinal  of  Perigord  arrived,  begging  the  king  to  permit 
him  to  negotiate  between  the  two  armies.  "  The  English 
are  but  a  handful  compared  with  you  ;  if  you  can  capture 
them,  and  cause  them  to  place  themselves  at  your  mercy 
without  giving  battle,  this  manner  would  be  more  honor 
able  and  profitable  to  you."  The  king  consented  thereto,  and 
the  cardinal  promptly  galloped  towards  the  English  army. 
"  Gallant  son,"  he  said  to  the  Black  Prince,  "  if  you  had 
justly  considered  the  power  of  the  King  of  France,  you  would 
suffer  me  to  arrange  terms  with  him  for  you,  if  I  could." 
Therefore  the  Prince,  who  was  then  a  }roung  man,  answered, 
"  My  lord,  saving  my  honor  and  that  of  my  men,  I  am 
ready  to  listen  to  anything  in  reason."  Thus  the  cardinal 
galloped  throughout  the  day  between  the  two  armies.  But 
no  agreement  could  be  made,  for  the  English  indeed  con- 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  323 

sented  to  surrender  to  King  John  all  the  towns  and  castles 
taken  on  their  way,  to  conclude  a  truce  of  seven  years,  and 
to  release  the  prisoners ;  but  the  French  demanded  that  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  a  hundred  of  his  knights  should  sur 
render  before  allowing  the  remainder  of  his  army  to  pass,  *'  to 
which  the  English  could  not  listen ;  and  on  Monday  morning 
the  French  angrily  told  the  cardinal  to  return  to  Poitiers, 
or  wherever  he  pleased,  and  never  more  to  speak  of  treaty 
or  agreement,  for  that  he  might  give  offence.  Quickly  going 
away,  the  cardinal  proceeded  to  the  English  army."  "  My 
gallant  son,"  he  said  to  the  Prince,  "  do  as  you  are  able ; 
you  must  fight,  for  I  cannot  discover  any  disposition  for  con 
cord  or  peace  in  the  King  of  France."  And  the  Prince 
answered,  greatly  irritated,  "  That  is  the  intention  of  us  arid 
ours,  and  may  God  help  the  right." 

The  French  army  was  divided  into  three  great  battle-corps : 
the  first  was  commanded  by  the  marshals  of  France ;  the 
second  by  Charles,  Duke  of  Normandy  ;  King  John  was  at 
the  head  of  the  third,  and  he  had  retained  by  his  side  his 
youngest  son,  Philip. 

The  Prince  of  Wales  had  placed  his  little  army  with  great 
care ;  it  was  imperative  to  fight  or  perish,  for  there  were 
no  provisions.  "  My  gallant  lords,"  said  the  young  man,  "  if 
we  are  few  against  the  might  of  our  enemies,  let  us  not 
be  daunted,  for  valor  and  victory  do  not  belong  to  great 
numbers,  but  to  whomsoever  God  chooses  to  send  them.  If 
it  happen  that  the  day  be  ours,  we  shall  be  the  most  hon 
ored  in  the  world  ;  if  we  should  die,  I  have  my  father  and 
two  gallant  brothers,  and  you  have  good  friends,  who  will 
avenge  us.  Thus  I  beg  that  you  may  to-day  know  how  to 
fight  well,  for,  if  it  please  God  and  St.  George,  you  will  see 
in  me  a  good  knight." 

The   French   had  wavered ;   a  great  number  had   remained 


324  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

on  horseback,  against  the  advice  of  Ribaumont.  A  good 
English  knight,  Sir  James  Audley,  awaited  them  foremost  in 
advance,  having  vowed  to  be  the  best  combatant  in  the  bat 
tle.  The  heavy  cavalry  and  the  warriors,  covered  with  steel, 
entered  the  narrow  path  leading  to  their  enemies.  The 
arrows  of  the  English  archers  began  to  whistle  by  ;  the  brave 
knights  looked  around  them :  they  saw  no  assailants,  but  they 
were  wounded  and  their  horses  were  falling.  They  were 
obliged  to  retreat,  leaving  the  dead  and  dying,  and  the 
wounded  horses,  blocking  up  the  defile.  The  army  corps 
of  the  marshals  was  disconcerted,  and  that  of  the  Duke 
of  Normandy  was  beginning  to  take  alarm.  The  experienced 
eye  of  Sir  John  Chandos  was  not  deceived  in  the  matter. 
"  Ride  forward,  sire,"  he  said  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  "  for 
the  day  is  yours.  Let  us  devote  ourselves  to  your  adversary, 
the  King  of  France ;  for  there  lies  the  greater  part  of  the 
day's  work,  and  I  well  know  that  by  reason  of  his  valor 
he  will  not  fly."  The  Prince  applied  his  spurs  to  his  horse, 
and,  quitting  his  rustic  rampart,  he  advanced  into  the  open 
space  where  the  King  of  France  was  fighting.  A  detachment 
of  the  archers  attacked  at  the  same  time  the  troops  of  the 
Duke  of  Normandy,  who  took  to  flight  almost  without  striking 
a  blow.  The  English  charged,  "St.  George  and  Guienne!" 
"  Montjoie  St.  Denis !  "  was  the  answer  around  King  John ; 
but  the  disorder  was  increasing.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  had 
disappeared  with  the  reserve  forces.  "  The  king  was  not 
a  man  ever  to  be  frightened  by  the  things  which  he  saw  or 
heard  said,  but  still  remained  a  good  knight,  and  fought 
well."  "  Dismount !  dismount !  "  he  cried  to  all  his  follow 
ers  ;  and  himself  alighting  from  his  horse,  he  marched  along 
their  ranks,  battle-axe  in  hand,  and  there  around  him  "  there 
was  a  great  number  of  warriors,  haughty  and  cruel,  arid 
many  heavy  blows  were  given  and  received."  And  the  still 


KING  JOHN   TAKEN   PRISONER   BY   THE   BLACK   PRINCE. 


CHAP.  XL]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  325 

youthful  prince,  Philip,  was  there  crying  to  his  father,  "  Sire, 
have  a  care  on  your  right  !  Sire,  have  a  care  on  your  left !  " 
and  defended  him  as  much  as  he  was  able.  Meanwhile,  on 
all  sides  the  king  was  greeted  with,  "  Surrender,  or  you  are 
a  dead  man."  He  looked  around  him.  "  To  whom  shall  I 
surrender  ?  "  he  asked  aloud.  "  Where  is  my  cousin,  the 
Prince  of  Wales  ?  If  I  could  see  him  I  would  speak." 
"  Sire,"  said  a  knight,  "  he  is  not  here ;  but  surrender  to 
me,  I  will  conduct  you  to  him."  "  Who  are  you  ? "  asked 
the  king.  "  Denis  de  Morbecque,  a  knight  of  Artois ;  but 
I  serve  the  King  of  England  because  I  cannot  live  in  the 
kingdom  of  France,  and  because  I  have  there  forfeited  all 
my  possessions."  The  king  tendered  his  glove  to  him.  "I 
surrender  to  you,"  he  said.  The  knight  endeavored  to  lead 
the  king  away  from  the  crowd ;  but  although  he  was  tall 
and  powerful,  everybody  crowded  round  him,  saying,  "I  have 
captured  him  ;  I  have  captured  him ; "  and  the  king  could 
not  advance,  nor  could  his  youngest  son,  Philip.  The  Earl 
of  Warwick  and  Sir  Reynold  Cobham,  who  were  seeking 
the  king  on  behalf  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  were  obliged 
to  deliver  him  from  his  enemies,  and  to  conduct  him  cour 
teously  to  the  spot  where  Chandos  had  advised  that  the 
banner  of  England  should  be  planted  to  reassemble  the 
troops.  "  It  is  time  that  your  men  should  rejoin  you,"  he 
had  said,  "  for  they  are  scattered,  and  the  day  is  yours. 
You  must  refresh  yourself  a  little,  for  I  see  that  you  are 
much  heated."  "  And  the  Prince  had  removed  his  helmet 
when  the  King  of  France  was  brought  forward,  before  whom 
he  made  a  profound  reverence,  and  received  him  as  a  king, 
well  and  wisely.  And  in  the  evening  he  waited  upon  him 
without  ever  consenting  to  be  seated,  notwithstanding  any 
solicitation  which  the  king  made  in  this  respect,  and  said 
that  he  was  not  yet  sufficiently  important  to  sit  down  at 


326  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

the  table  of  so  great  a  sovereign  and  so  valiant  a  man, 
who  had  that  day  surpassed  the  ablest.  And  all  deemed  that 
the  Prince  had  spoken  well." 

The  towns  and  castles  remained  closed  in  Poitou  and  in 
Saintonge,  but  the  French  army  was  not  rallied,  and  no 
attempt  was  made  to  deliver  the  king.  The  Prince  of  Wales 
hastened  to  Bordeaux,  in  order  to  place  in  safety  his  illus 
trious  prisoners,  and  all  the  booty  with  which  his  army 
was  loaded.  The  Duke  of  Normandy  had  been  created  Re 
gent  by  the  States-general,  and  the  Black  Prince  concluded 
a  truce  of  two  years  with  him.  He  spent  the  winter  in 
Gascony ;  then  in  the  spring  (April,  1357)  he  set  sail  to 
conduct  to  England  King  John  and  his  son  Philip.  Negotia 
tions  were  in  progress  for  the  ransom  of  the  king,  and  the 
legates  of  the  Pope,  the  ordinary  negotiators  of  the  great 
treaties  between  sovereigns,  followed  the  Prince  of  Wales  and 
his  prisoners  to  England.  John  entered  London  on  the  24th 
of  April,  upon  a  magnificent  courser  richly  caparisoned ;  the 
Prince  of  Wales  was  at  his  side  upon  a  small  black  horse. 
King  Edward  had  come  forward  to  meet  his  illustrious  cap 
tive,  and  all  the  court  hastened  to  do  him  honor.  King  John 
consoled  himself  easily  enough  in  his  captivity. 

Already  for  six  years  past  Edward  had  been  in  treaty 
with  the  Scottish  Parliament  for  the  ransom  of  King  David 
Bruce.  Twice  the  latter  had  been  allowed  to  visit  his  king 
dom  in  order  to  induce  his  subjects  to  redeem  him ;  but 
Scotland  was  poor,  and  the  demands  of  Edward  were  ex 
orbitant.  It  was  not  until  the  month  of  October,  1357, 
that  the  treaty  was  at  length  concluded,  and  that  David 
was  enabled  to  return  to  his  kingdom  after  an  imprison 
ment  of  eleven  years.  But  his  subjects  soon  perceived  the 
influence  which  his  long  sojourn  in  England  had  exercised 
over  their  weak  sovereign.  When  Queen  Jane  died,  without 


THE   BLACK   PRINCE   SERVING  THE   CAPTIVE   KING   JOHN. 


CHAP.  XI.]          THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  32T 

issue,  in  1362.  David  proposed  to  the  Scottish  Parliament 
to  select  as  his  heir,  Lionel,  the  third  son  of  the  King  of 
England,  to  the  exclusion  of  his  nephew,  the  Stewart*  of 
Scotland.  The  indignation  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  did  not 
put  an  end  to  the  project.  Some  delay  in  the  payment  of 
the  ransom  furnished  an  excuse  to  King  Edward,  and,  until 
the  death  of  King  David,  in  1371,  the  intrigues  of  the  Eng 
lish  continued  to  agitate  Scotland.  His  nephew  succeeded 
him  without  opposition,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Robert  II. 
While  Scottish  affairs  were  occupying  Edward  III.,  the 
treaty  with  France  still  remained  pending.  The  conditions 
required  by  the  English  were  so  harsh,  that  King  John, 
although  a  prisoner,  hesitated  to  accept  them.  Besides  an 
enormous  sum  for  the  ransom  of  the  king,  Edward  claimed 
to  retain  all  his  conquests  in  France,  and  to  secure  all  the 
possessions  formerly  belonging  to  his  family,  not  as  an  appa 
nage  or  fief,  but  as  a  property.  While  the  negotiations  were 
being  prolonged,  the  condition  of  France  became  daily  more 
critical.  The  evil  genius  of  the  royal  family,  Charles  the 
Bad,  King  of  Navarre,  had  escaped  from  the  prison  where 
for  a  long  time  he  had  been  confined.  He  had  allied  him 
self  to  the  citizens  of  Paris,  who  wished  to  exert  a  certain 
amount  of  influence  in  their  affairs,  a  power  which  was  con 
tested  by  the  Dauphin  f  and  his  council.  The  population 
of  Paris,  incited  by  their  chiefs,  soon  escaped  from  the  au 
thority  of  the  latter,  who  found  themselves  drawn  along 
irresistibly  with  the  current.  Riot  succeeded  riot ;  two  of  the 
advisers  of  the  Dauphin  were  slain  under  his  eyes,  on  the 
22d  of  February,  1358,  and  his  chancellor  was  compelled  to 

*  Stewart,  seneschal,  an  hereditary  title,  which  subsequently  became  the  fam 
ily  name  of  the  Stuarts. 

t  The  eldest  son  of  the  King  of  France  had  recently  assumed  the  title  of  Dau 
phin,  in  consequence  of  the  cession  of  Dauphine  to  France  by  Humbert  II.,  the 
last  Dauphin  of  the  Viennois. 


328  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XI. 

fly.  The  contagion  spread  throughout  the  whole  of  France ; 
as  Paris  had  had  its  Maillotins  (workmen  armed  with  mal 
lets),  France  in  general  had  its  Jacquerie,  an  insurrection 
of  the  serfs,  who  were  ironically  called  Jacques  Bonhomme. 
Everywhere  fearful  massacres  took  place,  and  the  Dauphin, 
compelled  to  arm  against  the  peasants  of  his  kingdom,  had 
no  leisure  to  think  of  the  demands  of  King  Edward.  The 
insurrection  was  scarcely  at  an  end,  when  King  John  ac 
cepted  the  proposals  of  the  King  of  England ;  but  as  soon 
as  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  were  known  in  France,  the 
States-general  rejected  them  with  indignation.  The  dismem 
berment  of  the  country  was  impossible  ;  peace  and  the  liberty 
of  the  king  were  too  dearly  bought  at  this  price. 

King  Edward  knew  the  proud  obstinacy  of  the  English 
Parliament;  he  was  indignant,  however,  to  find  a  similar  re 
sistance  from  the  French  States-general,  and  complaining  of 
perfidy,  he  entered  France  on  the  28th  of  October,  1359.  He 
had  traversed  Picardy,  Artois,  and  Cambre*sis,  consigning  every 
thing  to  fire  and  sword,  when  he  arrived  before  Rheims, 
where  he  proposed  to  be  crowned  King  of  France.  In  vain 
did  he  besiege  that  town  during  seven  weeks.  The  arch 
bishop  and  the  citizens  did  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  intim 
idated  by  the  fate  of  Calais,  and  defended  the  place  so  valiantly 
that  Edward  was  compelled  to  retire.  He  entered  into  Bur 
gundy,  but  the  Duke  Philip  purchased  his  withdrawal  with 
a  large  sum  of  money  and  a  promise  of  neutrality.  The  King 
of  England  took  the  road  to  Paris.  His  army  had  suffered 
greatly  during  the  winter;  the  month  of  March  had  been 
rough,  and  the  negotiations  which  had  been  opened  during 
the  festival  of  Easter  not  having  brought  about  any  result, 
Edward  was  compelled  to  retire.  The  Dauphin  had  not  re 
sponded  to  his  challenge,  and  the  English  army,  unfit  to 
attack  the  capital,  fell  back  towards  Brittany,  after  having 


CHAP.  XL]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  329 

burned  down  the  suburbs  of  Paris.  The  road  was  strewn 
with  the  bodies  of  the  men  and  horses  succumbing  to  fatigue 
and  misery.  At  length,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Chartres,  a 
fearful  storm  surprised  the  English  in  the  open  plain.  The 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick  was  killed  by  a  thunderbolt 
beside  the  king.  Struck  by  this  terrible  warning,  Edward 
leaped  from  his  horse,  and  vowed  to  God  and  Our  Lady 
of  Chartres  no  longer  to  reject  the  proposals  for  peace,  pro 
vided  that  they  should  be  consistent  with  his  honor ;  and 
conferences  were  opened  a  few  days  afterwards,  at  Bre*tigny, 
a  small  village  where  Edward  had  halted. 

Peace  was  at  length  concluded  on  the  8th  of  May,  1360. 
The  King  of  England  renounced  his  pretensions  to  the  king 
dom  of  France,  and  restored  all  his  conquests,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  Calais  and  Guines.  King  John  conceded  to  him 
absolutely,  for  himself  and  his  heirs  in  perpetuity,  Guienne, 
Poitou,  Saintonge,  Agenois,  Limousin,  Pdrigord,  and  the  county 
of  Ponthieu.  A  ransom  of  three  millions  of  golden  crowns 
was  to  be  paid  within  six  years  for  the  release  of  the  king; 
twenty-five  French  barons,  forty-two  burgesses,  and  sixteen 
of  the  most  important  prisoners  captured  at  Poitiers,  were 
to  serve  as  hostages  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  treaty. 

These  conditions,  harsh  as  they  yet  remained,  were  so  much 
better  than  the  first  proposals  of  King  Edward,  that,  after 
much  intriguing  and  hesitation,  they  were  at  length  sol 
emnly  ratified  by  the  two  sovereigns  at  Calais,  on  the  24th 
of  October,  1360,  with  this  strange  clause,  that  the  defini 
tive  renunciations  by  the  monarchs,  of  the  possessions  which 
they  ceded,  should,  not  take  place  until  the  festival  of  the 
Assumption  of  the  following  year.  On  the  morrow,  the  25th 
of  October,  King  John  was  restored  to  liberty,  and  King 
Edward  embarked  for  England. 

The  festival  of  the  Assumption  had  passed   by,  as  well  as 
VOL.  i.  42 


330  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

many  other  holidays,  but  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  of 
Brdtigny  were  not  yet  fulfilled :  the  financial  distress  of 
France  had  not  admitted  of  raising  the  sums  promised  for 
the  ransom.  The  land  was  ravaged  by  the  free  bands 
formerly  in  the  pay  of  the  belligerents,  who,  having  had 
no  employment  since  the  peace,  had  lived  by  plunder  and 
rapine.  They  proceeded  from  province  to  province,  wher 
ever  there  still  remained  any  resources ;  and  they  had  de 
feated  John  of  Bourbon,  who  had  been  dispatched  against 
them  by  the  Dauphin.  The  States-general  murmured  at  the 
conditions  of  the  treaty.  King  John  saw  nothing  in  his 
kingdom  but  oppression  and  misery  ;  he  could  not  fulfil  his 
engagements,  and,  as  a  crowning  disgrace,  one  of  his  host 
ages,  his  own  son,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  having  been  brought 
to  Calais  with  the  other  knights  of  the  Lily,  —  a  designation 
applied  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Berry,  his  uncle,  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  and  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Bourbon, — 
shamelessly  broke  his  word,  by  flying  from  prison  to  re 
pair  to  Paris.  King  John  was  weary  of  the  struggle  and 
wounded  in  his  pride  and  his  loyalty ;  perchance  also  he 
remembered  the  rejoicings  which  had  been  instituted  in  his 
honor  in  London ;  he  announced  that  he  was  about  to  re 
turn  to  England.  "  Were  honor  banished  from  the  whole 
earth,"  he  proudly  said,  "  it  should  be  found  again  in  the 
heart  of  a  king."  He  arrived  in  London  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1364  ;  but  before  being  able  to  resume  the  ne 
gotiations,  he  fell  ill,  and  died  on  the  8th  of  April.  His  body 
was  brought  back  to  France  with  all  royal  magnificence,  and 
the  Dauphin  became  king  under  the  title  of  Charles  V. 

While  the  perplexities  of  the  government  in  France  had 
hindered  the  consolidation  of  peace,  the  Prince  of  Wales  had 
been  married,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1361,  to  the  woman 
whom  he  had  loved  all  his  lifetime,  his  cousin  Joan,  daughter 


CHAP.  XL]  THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'  WAR.  331 

of  Edmund,  Earl  of  Kent.  She  had  already  been  twice 
married,  and  her  second  husband,  Lord  Holland,  had  re 
cently  died.  Happy  at  length,  the  Black  Prince  established 
himself  in  Aquitaine  with  his  wife,  and  held  at  Bordeaux  a 
magnificent  court,  the  school  for  all  good  chivalry,  while  he 
labored  to  restore  order  in  these  provinces,  so  long  deso 
lated  by  war. 

King  Charles  V.  had  found  a  means  of  ridding  himself 
of  the  free  companies.  The  King  of  Castile,  Peter  IV.,  had 
deserved  his  surname  of  "  the  Cruel "  for  a  series  of  crimes 
which  had  exasperated  his  people.  His  brother,  Henry  of 
Transtamare,  exiled  by  him,  and  burning  with  a  desire  to 
avenge  his  mother  and  all  his  relatives  assassinated  by  the 
tyrant,  had  taken  refuge  in  France,  asking  the  assistance  of 
King  Charles  V.  The  latter  offered  the  services  of  the  free 
companies ;  the  good  knight  Bertrand  du  Guesclin,  already 
famous  among  the  most  illustrious  warriors  of  his  time,  con 
cluded  a  treaty  with  the  chiefs  of  the  different  bands,  and, 
placing  himself  at  their  head,  crossed  the  Pyrenees  under 
the  orders  of  Henry  of  Transtamare,  who  was  soon  placed 
upon  the  throne  of  Castile,  almost  without  striking  a  blow. 
In  vain  did  Peter  the  Cruel  call  to  his  aid  all  his  vassals ; 
they  were  too  happy  to  see  themselves  delivered  from  his 
yoke,  and  the  tyrant  was  compelled  to  take  to  flight.  He 
took  refuge  at  Bordeaux,  begging  the  assistance  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales. 

Passion  blinds  the  most  clear-sighted  men :  the  noble  char 
acter  of  the  Black  Prince  had  nothing  in  common  with  the 
savage  ferocity  and  calculating  perfidy  of  Peter  the  Cruel ; 
but  the  Prince  thought  this  king  ill  used  by  his  brother  and 
his  subjects.  France  had  embraced  the  cause  of  Henry  of 
Transtamare,  and  England  thought  herself  constrained  to  sup 
port  his  rival.  He  had  brought  with  him  his  two  daughters, 


332  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.   -  [CHAP.  XI. 

who  remained  at  the  court  of  Bordeaux,  where  they  were 
married,  a  few  years  later,  to  two  sons  of  King  Edward, 
the  Duke  of  Lancaster  and  the  Earl  of  Cambridge.  The 
first  rumor  of  the  intentions  of  the  Black  Prince  caused 
a  secession  from  the  army  of  Du  Guesclin  of  some  of  his 
best  bands.  Sir  John  Calverley  and  Sir  Robert  Knowles, 
with  twelve  thousand  men,  immediately  abandoned  Henry 
of  Transtamare  and  proceeding  into  Guienne,  assembled  under 
the  banner  of  their  legitimate  chief.  The  King  of  Navarre 
delivered  up  the  passage  through  the  Pyrenees,  and  in  the 
month  of  February,  1367,  in  spite  of  cold,  snow,  and  the 
scarcity  of  provisions  in  a  poor  country,  thirty  thousand  men 
crossed  the  defiles  of  the  mountains  under  the  command  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Peter  the  Cruel,  and  on  the  3d 
of  April  a  battle  was  fought  between  the  two  claimants 
upon  the  plain  of  Navarette.  The  combat  was  fierce.  A 
portion  of  the  Spaniards  had  given  way ;  but  Henry  of 
Transtamare,  supported  by  Du  Guesclin,  resolutely  defended 
himself.  At  length  the  latter  was  made  a  prisoner,  and 
the  rout  was  complete.  Don  Henry  fled  and  took  refuge  in 
Arragon.  Six  thousand  men  remained  upon  the  field  of 
battle,  and  two  thousand  prisoners  were  in  the  hands  of 
Peter  the  Cruel.  He  was  preparing  to  slaughter  them,  when 
the  Prince  of  Wales  demanded  mercy  for  them,  and  the 
king  did  not  dare  to  refuse  it ;  but  he  had  no  intention 
of  fulfilling  the  promises  which  he  had  made  at  Bordeaux. 
From  his  camp  at  Valladolid,  the  Prince  repeatedly  sent  to 
Peter  the  Cruel,  demanding  the  money  which  he  had  under 
taken  to  pay  for  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  no  answer,  no 
visit  from  the  king,  no  provisions ;  while  the  English  army 
was  decimated  by  sickness,  by  the  climate,  and  by  want. 
The  Prince  himself  was  suffering  from  a  fever ;  weary  of 
waiting,  and  convinced  of  the  perfidy  of  his  ally,  he  broke  up 


CHAP.  XL]          THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  333 

his  camp  on  the  26th  of  June,  and  returned  to  Guienne. 
Peter  the  Cruel  had  momentarily  regained  his  throne,  but 
the  treasury  of  England  was  empty  ;  the  health  of  the  Black 
Prince  was  forever  destroyed,  his  character  imbittered  by 
suffering  and  deceptions.  The  barons  of  Aquitaine  began  to 
murmur  and  to  turn  unwillingly  towards  France. 

Charles  V.  deserved  his  title  of  "  the  Wise ; "  prudent 
and  foreseeing,  but  too  weak  in  body  to  have  any  taste  for 
warfare,  he  directed  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  from  his 
seat  with  a  firm  moderation  to  which  the  French,  like  their 
enemies,  had  not  been  accustomed  under  his  predecessors. 
When  the  Poitevins  presented  themselves  before  Charles  V., 
as  the  liege  lord,  to  complain  of  the  excessive  taxes  im 
posed  by  the  Black  Prince,  he  temporized,  gave  vague  an 
swers,  and  retained  the  complainants  at  Paris,  while  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  governor  of  Languedoc,  was 
fostering  the  discontent  in  the  provinces  of  the  south  be 
longing  to  the  English. 

The  Spanish  ally  of  the  Black  Prince  had  recently  re 
ceived  the  reward  of  all  his  crimes ;  scarcely  had  the  English 
retired,  when  Don  Henry  had  again  taken  the  field,  and 
for  the  second  time  he  had  dethroned  his  brother.  As  he 
was  besieging  him  in  a  fortified  castle,  they  had  met  in 
the  tent  of  a  French  knight ;  Peter  immediately  seized  his 
brother  by  the  throat,  and  threw  him  to  the  ground.  Henry 
drew  his  dagger,  and,  Peter,  stabbed  to  the  heart,  died  im 
mediately.  An  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  had  recently 
been  concluded  between  France  and  Spain  (20th  of  No 
vember,  1368),  and  King  Charles  V.,  publicly  taking  his 
course,  summoned  Edward,  Prince  of  Aquitaine,  to  appear 
at  Paris  before  his  peers,  there  to  answer  the  complaints 
of  his  vassals. 

Since   the   treaty   of    Bre*tigny,    King   Edward   and   his   son 


334  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XL 

had  no  longer  recognized  the  superiority  of  France.  "  I 
will  go,"  said  the  Black  Prince,  "but  with  sixty  thousand 
lances."  His  father  was  better  aware  of  the  difficulty  of 
the  undertaking ;  he  made  moderate  proposals  to  Charles  V., 
simply  claiming  the  sovereignty  of  Aquitaine ;  but  Charles 
V.,  seeing  the  English  Parliament  wearied  by  the  wars,  King 
Edward  aged  and  tired,  and  the  Black  Prince  ill,  main 
tained  his  pretension,  and  the  French  troops  entered  into 
Poitou,  Guienne,  and  Limousin.  The  discontented  and  capri 
cious  inhabitants  almost  always  lent  their  support  to  the 
French.  King  Edward  sent  his  second  son,  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  with  considerable  reinforcements,  to  the  assistance 
of  the  Black  Prince ;  but,  while  he  was  overrunning  the 
northern  provinces,  King  Charles  not  permitting  any  impor 
tant  engagement  to  take  place,  the  conquests  of  the  French 
extended  in  the  south,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales,  danger 
ously  ill,  found  himself  compelled  to  take  the  field  upon  a 
litter.  The  Dukes  of  Anjou  and  Berry  did  not  await  him. 
They  had  left  garrisons  in  the  towns,  and  had  retired  when 
the  Prince  advanced  against  Limoges.  He  had  formerly  lav 
ished  his  favors  upon  that  town  which  had  been  surrendered 
to  the  French  by  the  bishop,  and  he  had  sworn,  by  the 
soul  of  his  father,  not  to  move  from  thence  nor  do  anything 
else  until  he  should  have  recaptured  it.  The  siege  pro 
gressed  slowly;  the  citizens  bravely  supported  the  garrison, 
for  they  feared  the  vengeance  of  the  Prince.  The  latter 
conducted  the  military  operations  with  a  savage  fury  which 
he  had  never  before  manifested.  At  length,  at  the  end  of 
a  month,  a  large  mine  opened  a  breach  in  the  walls  of  the 
town ;  the  besiegers  sprang  inside,  and  the  massacre  began : 
women,  children,  and  old  men  fell  upon  their  knees,  cry 
ing,  "  Mercy !  such  poor  folks  could  not  have  been  con 
cerned  in  surrendering  the  town,"  but  none  received  quarter. 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  335 

The  knights  and  men-at-arms  of  the  garrison  still  defended 
themselves  heroically  in  the  streets ;  three  of  them  planted 
themselves  against  a  wall,  and  made  such  good  use  of  their 
swords  that  the  Prince  of  Wales,  while  passing  by  in  his 
litter,  was  struck  with  admiration,  and  received  them  as 
prisoners  to  be  ransomed.  The  humble  people  were  all  dead, 
41  who  were  really  martyrs,"  says  Froissart ;  the  town  was 
fired,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  had  retired.  He  had  ex. 
hausted  his  strength,  and,  in  the  hope  of  regaining  his 
health  under  his  native  sky,  he  set  out  for  England,  leav 
ing  to  his  brother  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  the 
care  of  prosecuting  the  war.  The  military  career  of  the 
Black  Prince  was  ended ;  six  years  of  illness  and  languor 
were  to  bring  to  its  close  this  life  so  brilliantly  begun,  but 
unhappily  sullied  by  a  last  act  of  cruelty,  more  consistent 
with  the  general  morals  of  the  time  than  with  the  char 
acter  hitherto  displayed  by  the  son  of  King  Edward. 

The  Duke  of  Lancaster  had  recently  married  Constance, 
the  eldest  daughter  of  Peter  the  Cruel,  and  upon  this 
ground  he  aspired  to  the  crown  of  Castile,  an  imprudent 
pretension  which  strengthened  the  union  of  the  king,  Don 
Henry,  with  France.  The  Earl  of  Pembroke  was  bringing 
reinforcements  to  the  duke  in  June,  1372,  when  a  Spanish 
fleet,  stationed  between  La  Rochelle  and  the  Isle  of  Re*, 
barred  the  passage.  An  engagement  took  place,  and  the 
English  were  completely  beaten,  their  vessels  being  either 
captured  or  scuttled.  This  disaster  was  an  unmistakable 
blow  to  King  Edward  and  to  the  English  nation,  which 
was  beginning  to  look  upon  the  sea  as  its  legitimate  empire. 
The  successes  of  King  Charles  V.  were  increasing ;  he  had 
placed  Bertrand  du  Guesclin  at  the  head  of  his  armiee,  and 
had  made  him  Constable  of  France ;  but  the  remembrance 
of  Cre*ey  and  Poitiers  was  always  before  his  eyes ;  he  did 


336  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XI. 

not  permit  any  pitched  battles  to  be  fought.  From  siege 
to  siege,  from  skirmish  to  skirmish,  Du  Guesclin  was  still 
marching  forward,  sometimes  surprising  the  enemy,  passing 
through  their  ranks,  as  it  is  said  in  his  Memoirs,  by  a  strata 
gem,  which  consisted  in  striking  with  the  point  and  with 
the  edge  of  the  sword ;  but  when  the  English  presented 
themselves  in  a  body,  the  Constable  would  fall  back  upon 
the  fortresses,  and  allow  a  passage  to  the  enemy,  who  over 
ran  the  country,  and  could  not  surround  either  the  large 
towns  or  fortified  castles.  "  Never  has  king  fought  so  little, 
and  given  so  much  trouble,"  said  Edward,  angrily,  for  his 
French  possessions  were  diminishing  day  by  day.  Bordeaux 
and  Bayonne,  with  a  narrow  piece  of  territory,  alone  re 
mained  in  his  hands  in  the  south,  and  Calais  in  the  north ; 
and,  if  the  faithful  ally  of  England,  the  young  Count  of 
Montfort,  was  everywhere  recognized  in  Brittany,  since  the 
death  of  Charles  of  Blois,  in  1364,  his  authority  was  too  well 
contested  by  Oliver  de  Clisson  to  allow  of  his  supporting 
English  interests  beyond  his  duchy.  John  of  Gaunt  returned 
to  England,  and  once  more,  the  legates  of  the  Pope  play 
ing  the  part  of  peacemakers,  a  truce  of  one  year  was  con 
cluded  at  Bruges  in  1374,  to  be  prolonged  almost  until  the 
death  of  King  Edward. 

So  many  reverses,  after  so  much  glory,  had  undermined 
in  England  the  popularity  of  the  king.  The  finances  of  the 
country  were  in  default;  every  resource  had  been  exhausted 
to  support  a  war  which  had  borne  so  little  fruits.  Com 
plaints,  which  people  did  not  dare  to  address  to  the  king, 
reached  his  ministers,  and  even  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Lan 
caster,  who  had  gradually  secured  the  power,  in  consequence 
of  the  weakness  of  his  father  and  the  illness  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales.  The  latter  remained  the  idol  of  the  nation,  and, 
either  through  jealousy  of  his  brother,  or  through  dissatis- 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE    HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  337 

faction  at  the  state  of  affairs,  he  lent  his  support  to  the 
opposition.  The  Parliament  of  1376,  long  known  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Good  Parliament,"  addressed  to  the  king  a 
remonstrance  concerning  the  waste  of  the  public  money,  and 
demanded  the  dismissal  of  several  of  the  ministers.  Lord 
Latimer  and  Lord  Nevil  were  deprived  of  all  their  offices ;  but 
the  object  of  the  public  hatred  and  mistrust  was  especially 
a  woman,  named  Alice  Perrers,  formerly  a  lady  of  the  bed 
chamber  to  Queen  Philippa,  and  who,  since  the  death  of 
the  latter,  had  acquired  such  an  influence  over  King  Ed 
ward,  that  he  had  presented  her  with  the  jewels  of  his 
wife,  and  frequently  permitted  her  to  dispense  at  her  pleas 
ure  the  favors  of  the  crown.  The  Commons  publicly  de 
manded  that  she  should  be  banished  from  the  kingdom. 

Amid  this  work  of  reform,  the  Parliament  suddenly  lost 
its  firmest  support.  The  Black  Prince  died  on  the  8th  of 
June,  1376.  For  a  long  time  he  had  been  ailing,  and 
unable  to  assume  in  the  government  of  his  country  the 
ppsition  which  by  right  belonged  to  him;  but  the  nation 
had  always  reckoned  upon  his  wisdom  and  justice  no  less 
than  on  his  brilliant  valor ;  a  prosperous  and  happy  reign 
had  been  hoped  for,  and  the  grief  was  general  and  pro 
tracted.  "  The  good  fortune  of  England  seemed  bound  up 
in  his  person,"  says  the  chronicler  Walsingham ;  "it  had 
flourished  in  his  health,  it  languished  in  his  illness,  and  died 
at  his  death  ;  in  him  expired  all  the  hopes  of  the  English. 
For  during  his  lifetime  neither  an  invasion  of  the  enemy, 
nor  an  encounter  in  battle  had  been  feared."  He  was  in 
terred  with  great  pomp  in  Canterbury  Cathedral,  where  he 
had  formerly  erected  a  chapel  in  memory  of  his  marriage. 
At  the  especial  request  of  the  Parliament,  his  eldest  son 
Richard  was  thereupon  declared  heir  to  the  throne.  Fears 
were  entertained  concerning  the  pretensions  of  the  Duke  of 

VOL.  I.  43 


338  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XI. 

Lancaster,  who  had  resumed  all  his  authority.  Sir  Peter  de 
la  Mare,  who  had  impeached  the  ministers  in  the  name  of 
the  Parliament,  was  arrested.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
William  of  Wykeham,  formerly  at  the  head  of  the  oppo 
sition,  was  divested  of  his  revenues.  A  Parliament  favorable 
to  John  of  Gaunt  was  convoked ;  it  proposed  the  recall  of 
Alice  Perrers,  the  rehabilitation  of  Lord  Latimer,  and  other 
measures  so  unpopular  that  the  palace  of  the  duke  was 
assailed  by  the  citizens  of  London,  and  his  friend  Lord 
Percy,  a  marshal  of  England,  was  pursued  by  the  mob,  so 
that  the  prince  was  obliged  to  throw  himself  into  a  small 
boat  with  Percy,  to  take  refuge  at  Kennington,  in  the  castle 
inhabited  by  the  young  Prince  Richard  and  his  mother.  All 
the  remonstrances  of  the  Bishop  of  London  scarcely  suc 
ceeded  in  calming  the  disturbance.  The  arms  of  the  Duke 
of  Lancaster,  at  the  gate  of  his  palace,  were  inverted  by 
the  people  as  the  escutcheon  of  a  traitor ;  when  the  duke 
returned  shortly  afterwards  to  London,  all  the  magistrates 
of  the  city  were  dismissed  and  replaced  by  his  creatures. 
On  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  coronation  of 
Edward  III.,  a  general  amnesty  was  proclaimed;  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester  was  alone  excluded  from  it. 

It  was  the  last  public  act  of  King  Edward ;  this  body 
so  active  and  robust,  this  spirit  so  bold,  this  will  so  firm, 
had  nevertheless  undergone  the  effects  of  premature  old  age. 
The  ministers  were  ranging  themselves  beside  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster ;  the  opposition  was  grouped  around  the  }roung 
Prince  Richard  and  the  Princess  of  Wales  ;  the  old  king 
was  dying  alone,  with  Alice  Perrers.  It  is  even  said  that 
she  deserted  him  in  his  agony,  after  having  taken  the  royal 
ring  from  him.  The  king  lay  in  his  isolation ;  the  servants 
had  dispersed  in  the  manor  of  Shene,  to  plunder  at  their 
leisure.  A  monk  entered,  crucifix  in  hand ;  he  approached 


CHAP.  XI.]  THE   HUNDRED    YEARS'    WAR.  339 

the  unhappy  monarch,  praying  beside  him,  and  supporting 
his  expiring  head  until  the  last  sigh.  Thus  died,  on  the 
21st  of  June,  1377,  the  great  Edward  III.,  who  had  at  one 
time  appeared  destined  to  unite  upon  his  head  the  two 
crowns  of  France  and  England.  He  died  alone,  in  the  sixty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age,  leaving  to  his  grandson,  a  child,  instead 
of  the  whole  of  Aquitaine,  which  he  had  received  from 
his  father,  a  few  towns  only  upon  that  soil  of  France  of 
which  he  claimed  possession.  The  blood  of  the  two  nations 
had  flowed  during  more  than  thirty  years,  and  the  struggle 
was  as  yet  only  at  its  beginning. 


340  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

BOLINGBROKE. 
RICHARD  II.      1377-1398.  — HENRY  IV.     1398-1413. 

THE  little  King  Richard  was  much  fatigued  on  the  16th 
of  July,  1377  ;  it  was  found  necessary  to  place  him  in 
a  litter  to  bring  him  back  to  the  palace,  after  his  corona 
tion.  All  the  former  popularity  of  his  grandfather  Edward 
III.,  all  the  affection  which  his  father  the  Black  Prince  had 
inspired,  appeared  to  have  accumulated  upon  his  head,  by 
reason  of  the  fear  and  aversion  which  were  felt  towards 
John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster.  The  prelates  and  barons 
assembled  on  the  morrow  of  the  coronation,  and  selected  a 
council  of  regency  of  twelve  members.  The  uncles  of  the 
king  did  not  form  part  of  this  body,  and  John  of  Gaunt 
retired  to  his  castle  of  Kenilworth ;  but  several  members 
of  the  council  remained  devoted  to  him,  and  his  influence 
soon  began  to  be  complained  of. 

The  King  of  France,  Charles  V.,  had  lost  no  time  in  taking 
advantage  of  the  weakness  of  the  English  government:  his 
fleets  overran  the  Channel,  fettering  commerce  and  seizing  the 
British  vessels  ;  a  descent  was  even  made  upon  the  Isle  of 
Wight.  The  Parliament  was  convoked,  and  the  Earl  of  Buck 
ingham,  the  uncle  of  the  king,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
naval  forces  :  his  expedition  against  the  French  fleet  mis 
carried,  and  his  defeat  increased  the  discontent  of  the  nation. 
The  Parliament  was  composed  chiefly  of  the  enemies  of  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  and  when  a  kind  of  reconciliation  had  been 


DEATH   OF   EDWARD   III. 


IlICHARl)   II.    RETURNING    FROM   HIS   CORONATION. 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLIXGBROKE.  341 

effected  between  the  latter  and  the  House  of  Commons,  that 
assembly  demanded  that  two  citizens  of  London  should  be 
appointed  to  receive  the  money  voted  for  the  defence  of  the 
country.  John  of  Gaunt  started  for  France  with  a  large 
army  (1378). 

The  King  of  Navarre,  still  at  war  with  Charles  V.,  held  a 
portion  of  Normandy ;  he  had  surrendered  Cherbourg  to  the 
English.  The  Duke  of  Brittany,  John  de  Montfort,  being  re 
duced  to  the  last  extremity  by  the  successes  of  Bertrand  du 
Guesclin,  had  consigned  Brest  to  them  ;  but  these  acquisitions 
were  due  to  the  free  will  of  the  allies  of  England,  and  not 
to  its  arms.  John  of  Gaunt  was  defeated  before  St.  Malo  ; 
and,  being  pursued  by  Du  Guesclin,  was  compelled  to  return 
to  England,  while  the  Scots,  at  the  instigation  of  France,  in 
vaded  the  northern  counties  and  took  possession  of  Berwick 
Castle.  A  Scottish  pirate,  named  John  Mercer,  devastated 
the  coast  as  far  as  Scarborough.  A  London  merchant,  named 
John  Philpot,  on  the  other  hand,  armed  a  small  fleet,  and 
hastening  to  the  encounter  of  Mercer,  recaptured  from  him 
all  the  vessels  which  the  latter  had  seized ;  captured,  besides, 
fifteen  Spanish  ships,  and  returned  triumphantly  into  the 
Thames,  amid  the  plaudits  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  to  the 
indignation  of  the  council,  who  reprimanded  the  alderman 
for  the  boldness  of  his  undertaking. 

The  Parliament  had  assembled  at  Gloucester,  disaffected 
and  exacting.  The  Commons  asked  to  examine  the  accounts, 
which  was  granted  to  them  as  a  favor.  John  de  Montfort 
had  recently  taken  refuge  in  England,  banished  from  his  do 
minions  by  King  Charles  V.,  who  committed  the  imprudent 
act  of  officially  annexing  the  duchy  of  Brittany  to  France. 
This  declaration  immediately  rallied  all  the  different  factions 
against  him.  John  de  Montfort  was  recalled ;  the  States- 
general  of  Brittany  wrote  to  the  King  of  France,  asking  him 


342  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XII. 

to  authorize  them  to  retain  their  independent  ruler.  At  the 
same  time  an  English  army,  under  the  command  of  the  Earl 
of  Buckingham,  landed  at  Calais  and  ravaged  the  provinces 
of  Artois,  Picardy,  and  Champagne,  without  ever  encounter 
ing  the  necessity  of  a  serious  combat.  The  English  were 
arriving  in  Brittany  when  King  Charles  V.  died  (1378),  and 
the  Bretons,  reassured  by  the  weakness  of  the  young  King 
Charles  VI.,  began  to  look  coldly  upon  their  English  allies. 
De  Montfort  negotiated  with  the  French  council  of  regency, 
and  Buckingham  was  only  indebted  for  his  safety  to  the  valor 
of  his  troops  and  to  the  provisions  which  he  had  brought. 
He  retired  in  the  spring  of  1379.  Great  events  were  in  pre 
paration  in  England. 

For  some  years  a  double  movement,  religious  and  social, 
had  begun  secretly  to  agitate  the  English  people.  A  priest, 
John  Wycliffe,  born  towards  1324,  in  Yorkshire,  had  attracted 
attention  at  the  university  of  Oxford  by  his  rare  faculties,  and 
had  commenced,  in  the  year  1356,  to  denounce  the  abuses 
of  the  papal  authority ;  he  had  then  attacked  the  mendicant 
monks,  accusing  the  Church  in  general  of  greed  and  corrup 
tion.  Summoned  to  appear  before  the  Bishop  of  London,  in 
the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  to  answer  for  his 
opinions,  he  had  been  supported  by  the  Duke  of  Lancaster 
and  his  friend  Lord  Percy ;  both  had  even  insulted  the 
bishop,  which  had  brought  about  an  insurrection  in  the  city. 
Wycliffe  had  retracted  some  of  his  ideas,  he  had  explained 
others;  and,  thanks  to  his  powerful  protectors,  he  had  ob 
tained  the  living  of  Lutterworth,  in  Leicestershire,  where  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  Surrounded  by  priests,  whom 
he  brought  up  in  truly  apostolic  poverty,  and  who  subse 
quently  spread  his  opinions  among  the  people.  Wycliffe  is 
the  first  of  the  Reformers,  or  rather,  their  precursor.  His 
doctrines  acted  more  powerfully  abroad  than  in  his  own 


CHAP.  XIL]  BOLINGBROKE.  343 

country ;  it  is  to  his  books  that  were  due  the  first  germs  of 
the  Reformation  in  Bohemia;  for  England,  his  greatest  work 
was  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular.  The 
most  important  of  his  ideas  was  the  appeal  to  the  private 
judgment  of  the  faithful  upon  the  very  text  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Wycliffe  had  shaken  the  traditions  of  submission 
to  the  clergy;  he  had  at  the  same  time  preached  a  danger 
ous  doctrine.  *'  All  possessions,"  he  said,  "  come  of  grace, 
and  may  be  forfeited  by  sin."  The  poor  serfs,  who  possessed 
nothing,  might  be  anxious  to  profit  in  their  turn  by  the  grace 
which  insured  estates.  Wycliffe  died  peacefully  at  Lutter- 
worth  in  1384. 

Already,  for  two  years  past,  his  illustrious  friend,  Geoffrey 
Chaucer,  the  first  creator  of  English  poetry,  had  been  com 
pelled  to  quit  England,  compromised  by  his  attachment  to  the 
new  ideas ;  he  had  retired  into  Hainault,  where  he  lived  in 
peace,  protected  by  the  friendship  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster. 
The  first  works  of  Chaucer,  The  Court  of  Love,  the  poem  of 
Troilus  and  Cresseide,  The  Temple  of  Fame,  had  been  published 
several  years  before,  and  had  assured  to  him  a  reputation 
which  had  largely  contributed  to  his  fortune.  The  English 
language  at  that  time,  still  largely  intermixed  with  French, 
and  difficult  to  understand  a6  the  present  day,  assumed,  under 
the  pen  of  Chaucer,  a  native  grace  to  which  sometimes  suc 
ceeds  an  energy  which  prepared  the  way  for  Spenser  and 
Shakspeare.  Chaucer  again  established  himself  in  England 
when  John  of  Gaunt  returned  from  his  expedition  to  Castile ; 
he  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  composed  in  his  retreat  of 
Dumington  his  Canterbury  Tales,  written  in  the  style  of  the 
Decameron  of  Boccaccio,  and  the  only  one  of  his  books  which 
is  still  read  at  the  present  time.  He  died  in  1400,  the  year 
following  the  accession  of  Henry  Bolingbroke,  the  son  of  his 
protector.  Like  Wycliffe,  he  had  seen  the  commencement  of 


344  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

the  popular  agitations.     The  poll-tax  voted  by  the  Parliament 
in  1379  was  their  first  occasion. 

A  general  movement  towards  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
lower  classes  manifested  itself  everywhere  in  Europe.  The 
insurrection  of  the  Jacquerie  in  France ;  the  resistance  of  the 
Flemish  citizens  and  artisans,  first,  to  the  conduct  of  Jacques 
van  Arteveldt,  and  afterwards  to  that  of  Philip,  his  son,  had 
testified  to  the  awakening  of  the  serfs,  the  peasants,  and  the 
artisans,  so  long  reduced  to  the  condition  of  beasts  of  burden. 
The  kings  had  been  in  need  of  money,  and  the  taxes  weigh 
ing  upon  all  their  subjects,  it  had  been  necessary  to  concili 
ate  them.  The  soldiery  had  acquired  a  new  importance ;  the 
English  archers,  in  particular,  nearly  all  peasants  by  origin, 
had  played  an  important  part  in  the  wars.  When  the  tax- 
collectors  began  in  1380  to  demand  payment  of  the  poll-tax, 
of  a  people  already  impoverished  by  a  long  series  of  exac 
tions,  they  met  with  a  resistance  which  increased  with  the 
oppression.  The  tax,  at  first  collected  with  leniency,  was  let 
out  to  some  courtiers  ;  they  borrowed  in  advance  of  the  Lom 
bards  and  Flemings  ;  repayment  became  necessary,  and  the 
revenue  was  exacted  with  great  severity.  The  peasants  be 
came  exasperated ;  they  began  to  assemble  and  confer  to 
gether  ;  the  insurrection  broke  out  in  Essex.  The  "  Commons 
of  England,"  as  the  insurgents  styled  themselves,  broke  into 
several  dwelling-houses  in  the  neighborhood  ;  they  obeyed  a 
seditious  priest,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Jack  Straw.  The 
contagion  rapidly  spread  into  the  counties  of  Kent,  Suffolk, 
and  Norfolk.  The  tax  was  payable  only  in  the  case  of  per 
sons  above  fourteen  years  of  age.  A  Kentish  collector  main 
tained  that  the  daughter  of  a  tiler  had  attained  the  specified 
age ;  her  mother  maintained  the  contrary ;  the  collector  in 
sulted  the  young  girl,  and  was  brained  with  a  hammer  by  the 
father.  A  knight  had  reclaimed  a  serf  who  thought  he  was 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  345 

entitled  to  enfranchisement,  and  had  imprisoned  him  in  Roch 
ester  Castle  ;  the  peasants  attacked  the  castle  and  compelled 
the  garrison  to  surrender  the  prisoner.  The  Kentish  insur 
gents  marched  under  the  command  of  a  chief  named  Wat 
Tyler  (Wat  the  tiler).  On  the  Monday  of  Trinity  week,  in 
1381,  they  entered  Canterbury,  threatening  death  to  the  arch 
bishop,  who  was  absent.  The  monks  of  the  chapter-house  were 
compelled  to  swear  fidelity  to  King  Richard  and  the  Commons 
of  England.  Three  wealthy  burgesses  were  beheaded,  and  the 
crowd  proceeded  towards  London.  It  is  related  that  one 
hundred  thousand  men  followed  close  upon  the  steps  of  Wat 
Tyler,  when  he  arrived  on  the  llth  of  June  at  Blackheath. 

The  Princess  of  Wales,  the  mother  of  the  young  king,  was 
returning  from  a  pilgrimage.  The  crowd  of  insurgents  sur 
rounded  her  retinue.  She  was  popular  by  reason  of  her  hus 
band's  memory,  and  her  ransom  cost  her  only  some  kisses 
bestowed  on  the  more  audacious  of  the  leaders,  who  had  not 
forgotten  that  she  had  formerly  been  called  "  the  fair  mai'd  of 
Kent ;  "  she  passed  by  without  further  difficulty.  The  mal 
contents  thronged  round  an  itinerant  preacher  whom  they 
had  brought  with  them,  and  who  displayed  to  them  this  text, 
now  famous :  — 

"  When  Adam  delved  and  Eve  span, 
Where  was  then  the  gentleman?" 

The  doctrine  of  equality  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by 
these  poor  people,  hitherto  trodden  under  foot.  The  out 
skirts  of  London  were  laid  waste  when  the  king  proceeded 
down  the  Thames,  on  the  12th  of  June,  to  receive  the  peti 
tion  of  the  insurgents.  Ten  thousand  men  awaited  his  arri 
val  at  Rotherhithe ;  but  at  the  sight  of  the  royal  barge  they 
uttered  "such  cries,"  says  Froissart,  "that  one  would  have 
thought  that  all  the  demons  of  hell  were  in  their  midst." 
The  noblemen  who  accompanied  Richard  became  alarmed,  and 
VOL.  i.  44 


346  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XII. 

dragged  him  with  them  as  far  as  the  Tower.  u  The  Com 
mons  of  England,"  in  a  state  of  fury,  advanced  along  the  right 
bank  of  the  river  as  far  as  Lambeth,  burned  down  the  prisons, 
and  plundered  the  palace  of  the  archbishop.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  Thames  the  insurgents  marched  along  the  course 
of  the  river,  and  at  length  obtaining  a  passage  over  London 
Bridge,  they  joined  their  brothers  of  Kent.  The  whole  city 
was  in  their  power ;  the  population  of  London  had  joined  them, 
and  the  rich  citizens,  to  please  them,  had  thrown  open  their 
cellars  to  them.  Hitherto,  the  multitude  had  behaved  with  a 
certain  amount  of  order,  but  intoxication  being  once  added  to 
the  joy  of  triumph,  they  could  no  longer  be  restrained ;  the 
palace  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  was  invaded  and  burned 
down  ;  plunder  was  strictly  forbidden  ;  the  gold  was  reduced  to 
powder,  and  the  precious  stones  were  broken.  A  peasant  had 
taken  a  silver  tankard;  he  was  thrown  into  the  river  with 
his  booty.  The  prisons  being  opened  and  destroyed  brought 
fresh  reinforcements  to  the  insurgents.  The  Temple  was 
burned,  with  all  the  valuable  books  which  had  been  collected 
by  the  Knights.  The  priory  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  recently 
constructed  by  Sir  Thomas  Hales,  a  prior  of  "the  order,  and 
chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  was  also  delivered  up  to  the 
flames.  A  thirst  for  blood  began  to  take  possession  of  the 
populace.  Every  passer-by  was  challenged.  "  For  whom  are 
you  ?  "  was  asked.  If  the  answer  was  not  "  For  King  Rich 
ard  and  the  true  Commons,"  the  person  answering  was  im 
mediately  slaughtered.  All  the  Flemings  fell  by  the  knife  or 
the  hatchet ;  the  popular  hatred  sought  them  out  even  in  the 
churches.  Wine  and  blood  flowed  in  the  streets ;  the  coun 
sellors  of  the  king  resolved  to  try  concessions. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  June  a  proclamation  was 
spread  throughout  London,  recommending  the  crowd  which 
surrounded  the  Tower,  and  demanded  the  heads  of  the  chan- 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  347 

cellor  and  treasurer,  to  retreat  towards  Mile  End.  The  king 
promised  there  to  come  to  them  and  to  grant  their  requests. 
A  portion  of  the  mob  obeyed  ;  when  Richard  arrived  with  a 
small  retinue  at  the  meeting-place  (his  brothers,  the  Earl  of 
Kent  and  Lord  John  Holland,  had  quitted  him  on  the  road), 
he  saw  himself  surrounded  by  sixty  thousand  peasants.  Their 
tone  was  respectful,  and  their  requests,  which  then  appeared 
monstrous,  do  not  create  the  same  impression  at  the  present 
day.  They  demanded  the  definitive  abolition  of  servitude  ;  the 
power  to  sell  and  purchase  in  all  markets ;  and  a  general  am 
nesty  for  the  past.  To  this  they  added  a  strange  claim  to  fix 
the  amount  of  rental  on  lands.  The  king  promised  all  that 
they  wished,  and  immediately  caused  to  be  made  a  large 
number  of  copies  of  the  charter  which  he  had  thus  granted. 
These  were  distributed  among  the  insurgents  ;  the  men  of 
Essex  and  'Hertford  retired  in  a  body  ;  but  the  malcontents 
of  Kent  had  remained  in  the  capital,  and  had  not  appeared 
at  the  meeting-place  in  Mile  End.  Scarcely  had  the  king  re 
tired  when  these  dangerous  foes  attacked  the  Tower,  beheading 
the  councillors  who  had  taken  refuge  therein,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  the  treasurer,  Sir  Thomas  Hales,  and  several 
others.  The  Princess  of  Wales,  while  yet  in  bed,  saw  a  furi 
ous  mob  spring  into  her  chamber.  No  injury  was  done  to 
her,  and  her  attendants  were  enabled  to  throw  her,  fainting 
with  fright,  into  a  little  boat ;  she  was  conveyed  to  a  house 
in  the  city  belonging  to  the  king,  who  there  came  and  joined 
her  when  he  had  learned  the  sad  news  of  the  massacre  at  the 
Tower. 

In  the  morning,  Richard  issued  forth  with  a  small  escort, 
and  advanced  fearlessly  towards  Smithfield.  The  multitude 
thronged  the  streets  and  squares.  The  king  drew  up  at  St. 
Bartholomew's  Priory.  "  I  will  go  no  further,"  he  said, 
"  without  having  pacified  the  insurgents."  Wat  Tyler  had 


348  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XII. 

perceived  him,  and  urging  his  horse  towards  him,  "  There  is 
the  king;  I  go  to  speak  to  him,"  he  cried  to  his  supporters; 
"  do  not  move  a  hand  or  foot  unless  I  give  you  the  sig 
nal."  The  horse  of  the  popular  chief  touched  heads  with 
that  of  the  king.  "  Sir  king,"  said  Wat  Tyler,  "  do  you  see 
those  men  yonder  ? "  "  Yes,"  replied  the  young  prince, 
without  stirring.  "  They  are  at  my  disposal,  and  ready  to  do 
as  I  bid  them  ;  "  and  he  toyed  with  his  dagger,  holding  the 
bridle  of  the  royal  courser.  Then,  perceiving  behind  Richard 
an  esquire  who  had  displeased  him,  "  Ah !  you  here  ? "  he 
said ;  "  give  me  your  sword."  The  esquire  refused ;  Wat 
Tyler  made  a  motion  to  take  possession  of  it;  the  followers 
of  the  king  were  roused.  The  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  Wil 
liam  Walworth,  urged  forward  his  horse,  and,  advancing  to 
wards  the  rebel,  struck  him  a  blow  with  a  dagger;  the  horse 
reared.  Tyler  endeavored  to  return  to  his  followers ;  an 
esquire  of  the  king  thrust  his  sword  through  his  body ;  he 
fell,  beating  the  air  with  his  hands.  The  mob  became  agi 
tated.  "  Our  captain  is  slain,"  was  the  cry,  and  the  bow 
strings  began  to  vibrate.  Richard  advanced  alone  towards 
the  crowd.  "  What  do  you,  my  friends  ? "  he  exclaimed. 
"  Tyler  was  a  traitor  ;  it  is  I  who  am  your  captain  and  your 
guide."  And  he  drew  after  him  this  irresolute  mob,  deprived 
of  their  chief,  and  advancing  without  knowing  whither  they 
were  bound.  They  arrived  in  the  fields  near  Islington.  The 
friends  of  the  king  had  rallied  round  him.  One  of  the  chiefs 
of  his  free  bands,  Sir  Robert  Knowles,  brought  a  body  of 
men-at-arms.  The  insurgents  took  alarm,  threw  down  their 
bows,  and  cried  "  Mercy !  "  The  king  would  not  suffer  them 
to  be  slaughtered  in  a  mass,  to  the  great  exasperation  of  Sir 
Robert  Knowles.  "  He  said  that  he  would  be  even  with  them 
on  another  occasion,"  says  Froissart ;  "  in  which  he  did  not 
fail." 


DEATH   OF   WAT   TYLER. 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLIXGBROKE.  349 

The  insurrections  subsided  everywhere.  The  Bishop  of  Nor 
wich  had  armed  his  household  and  his  friends,  and  hastening 
to  throw  himself  upon  the  peasants,  he  had  easily  defeated 
these  confused  masses,  little  accustomed  to  arms.  He  had 
himself  drawn  up  their  indictment,  and  pronounced  their  sen 
tence ;  then,  resuming  his  clerical  costume,  he  had  exhorted 
them,  received  their  confession,  absolved  them,  and  finally  ac 
companied  them  to  the  gallows.  The  king  was  at  the  head 
of  a  small  army,  and  had  inarched  against  the  remainder  of 
the  insurgents  of  Essex.  It  was  no  longer  a  question  of 
charters;  the  courts  of  commission  were  everywhere  assem 
bling  to  try  the  guilty.  The  two  priests,  Jack  Straw  and 
John  Ball,  were  hanged.  Lester  and  Wistbroom,  who  had 
assumed  the  title  of  "Kings  of  the  Commons"  in  the  coun 
ties  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  suffered  the  same  fate.  About 
fifteen  hundred  rioters  were  executed.  It  was  found  neces 
sary  to  fix  them  to  the  gibbet  with  iron  chains ;  their  friends 
came  by  night  to  carry  off  their  bodies. 

The  Parliament  had  assembled,  publicly  approving  of  the 
abolition  of  the  concessions  granted  to  the  villeins  during  the 
struggle.  "  We  would  never  have  consented  to  them,"  said 
the  barons,  "  even  had  we  all  been  compelled  to  perish  on 
the  same  day."  For  the  moment  there  was  some  talk  of 
abolishing  servitude ;  but  the  opposition  was  so  strenuous, 
the  proprietors  of  fiefs  declared  so  loudly  that  their  serfs  be 
longed  to  them  by  right,  and  that  they  could  not  be  deprived 
of  them  without  their  consent,  that  the  idea  was  immediately 
abandoned,  and  the  high-treason  law  was  voted,  condemning 
"  riots,  disturbances,  and  other  analogous  things,"  in  terms  as 
dangerous  as  they  were  vague.  The  king  demanded  money, 
the  Commons  claimed  a  complete  amnesty ;  neither  would  be 
gin  to  make  concessions.  The  Parliament  at  length  yielded ; 
the  tax  upon  wool  and  leather  was  prolonged  for  five  years, 


350  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

and  the  king  proclaimed  the  amnesty;  he  was  about  to  wed 
Anne  of  Bohemia,  soon  known  throughout  the  whole  of  her 
kingdom  as  "  the  good  queen."  The  Bishop  of  Norwich  was 
fighting  in  Flanders,  in  support  of  the  citizens  of  Ghent,  hard 
pressed  by  their  count,  recently  a  victor  at  the  battle  of  Rose- 
becque,  where  Philip  van  Arteveldt  had  been  killed,  and  the 
uncles  of  the  king  contended  with  each  other  for  the  au 
thority  in  England.  The  Earl  of  Cambridge  had  been  made 
Duke  of  York,  and  the  Earl  of  Buckingham  Duke  of  Glouces 
ter.  Henry  Bolingbroke,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  had 
become  Earl  of  Derby :  at  the  same  time,  the  king  had  made 
Earl  of  Suffolk  and  Duke  of  Ireland,  his  favorites  Michael 
de  la  Pole  and  Robert  de  Vere,  obscure  persons,  whom  the 
Princess  of  Wales  had  placed  beside  her  son,  by  reason  of 
her  jealousy  towards  his  uncles ;  and  who  contributed,  by  their 
influence,  to  the  struggles  and  disputes  of  the  government. 
The  princess  had  recently  died,  having  succumbed  beneath 
the  weight  of  the  anxieties  caused  by  one  of  her  sons,  Lord 
John  Holland  ;  he  had  recently  assassinated  one  of  the  ser 
vants  of  the  king,  and  was  unable  to  quit  the  church  in  which 
he  had  taken  refuge.  Plot  succeeded  plot  —  denunciation  to 
denunciation.  At  length  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  departed 
for  Spain,  in  order  to  sustain  the  pretensions  of  his  wife  to 
the  throne  of  Castile ;  and  he  contrived,  after  two  campaigns, 
to  marry  his  eldest  daughter  to  the  heir  of  Henry  of  Transta- 
mare,  thus  assuring  the  crown  to  her  children.  The  Scots 
had  crossed  the  frontier,  and  King  Richard  entered  Scotland. 
France  was  preparing  a  great  armament. 

Amid  these  external  preoccupations,  the  Duke  of  Glouces 
ter  had  seized  the  reins  of  government ;  and,  when  the  young 
king  threatened  to  dissolve  a  Parliament  devoted  to  his  uncle, 
the  Commons  brought  forward  the  Act  which  had  deposed 
Edward  II.  A  council  of  barons  for  a  while  governed  the 


CHAP.  XIL]  BOLINGBROKE.  351 

kingdom,  under  the  presidency  of  Gloucester.  Blood  flowed 
everywhere  ;  the  duke  avenged  himself  upon  the  favorites  of 
the  king,  who  were  as  odious  to  him  as  to  the  English  peo 
ple.  He  had  impeached  them  before  the  Parliament :  the  in 
nocent  were  involved  in  the  ruin  of  the  guilty.  Gloucester 
did  not  even  spare  Sir  Simon  Burley,  formerly  the  tutor  of 
the  king,  the  friend  of  Edward  III.  and  the  Black  Prince, 
and  who  had  conducted  the  negotiations  for  the  marriage  of 
Richard.  The  queen  in  vain  threw  herself  at  his  feet  asking 
for  mercy  ;  in  vain  did  Henry  Bolingbroke,  who  had  seconded 
his  uncle  in  all  his  undertakings,  claim  as  a  right  the  pardon 
of  the  condemned  man :  Burley  was  executed,  and  Boling 
broke  became  definitively  at  variance  with  Gloucester. 

The  disorder  which  prevailed  in  England  did  not  prevent 
constant  hostilities  upon  the  frontiers  of  Scotland.  It  was  on 
the  15th  of  August,  1388,  that  took  place  at  Otterburn  the 
famous  battle  celebrated  in  the  ballads  under  the  name  of 
Chevy  Chase,  between  the  Earl  of  Douglas  and  Lord  Henry 
Percy,  the  Hotspur  of  Shakspeare.  Douglas  was  slain,  but 
the  English  ended  by  being  repulsed  from  the  battlefield. 
Hotspur  and  his  brother  were  prisoners.  The  king  was  be 
ginning  to  weary  of  the  yoke  which  he  had  so  long  borne. 
He  was  subject  to  gleams  of  resolution  and  courage,  which 
soon  disappeared  in  a  long  fit  of  indolence,  and  which  took 
by  surprise  those  who  calculated  upon  his  habitual  apathy.  A 
council  was  being  held  in  the  month  of  May,  1389  ;  the  king 
suddenly  addressed  the  Duke  of  Gloucester.  "  How  old  do 
you  suppose  I  am,  uncle  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Your  Highness  is  in 
your  twenty-second  year,"  replied  the  duke,  much  surprised. 
"  Then,"  replied  the  king,  "  I  am  at  an  age  when  I  should 
govern  my  own  affairs.  Nobody  in  my  kingdom  has  been  so 
long  held  under  tutelage.  I  thank  you  for  your  services,  my 
lord,  but  I  no  longer  require  them."  And  he  immediately 


352  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XII. 

caused  the  great  seal  and  the  keys  of  the  treasury  to  be  given 
up  to  himself,  compelling  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  to  leave 
the  council,  and  announcing  publicly  to  the  nation  that  he  had 
henceforth  assumed  the  direction  of  the  government.  But  his 
fleeting  energy  had  already  abandoned  him.  The  Duke  of 
York  and  Henry  Bolingbroke  were  his  masters,  instead  of 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester. 

John  of  Gaunt  had  returned  from  Castile ;  he  had  become 
reconciled  with  his  brothers.  Concord  appeared  re-established 
in  the  royal  family ;  a  truce  had  been  concluded  with  France 
and  Scotland.  The  King  of  Scotland,  Robert  II.,  had  died  on 
the  19th  of  April,  1390,  and  his  eldest  son  had  assumed  the 
title  of  Robert  III.  Queen  Anne  had  also  died,  in  1394,  and 
King  Richard,  who  had  no  children,  married  two  years  later, 
much  against  the  wishes  of  his  subjects,  the  Princess  Isabel, 
daughter  of  Charles  VI.,  King  of  France.  She  was  but  seven 
years  old ;  but  the  king  conceived  the  liveliest  affection  for 
her,  and  conducted  her  everywhere  with  him  upon  his  travels. 
An  expedition  in  Ireland  against  the  insurgent  chiefs  had  been 
very  successful;  but  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  protested  with 
all  his  might  against  the  alliance  with  France.  "  Our  Ed 
wards,"  he  said,  "  caused  Paris  to  tremble  even  in  its  entrails ; 
but,  under  Richard,  we  court  the  French,  who  make  us  trem 
ble  within  London."  The  duke  had  his  reasons  for  trembling: 
the  king  had  not  forgotten  the  execution  of  his  favorites,  nor 
the  men  who  had  signed  their  indictment.  The  Earl  of  War 
wick,  one  of  the  accomplices  of  Gloucester,  was  already  ar 
rested  ;  the  Earl  of  Arundel  soon  followed.  The  Duke  of 
Gloucester  had  retired  to  Pleshy  Castle,  in  Essex ;  his  nephew 
repaired  thither  in  gay  company :  all  the  family  came  forward 
to  meet  the  king ;  but  while  the  duchess  was  conversing  with 
him,  Gloucester  was  arrested  by  the  marshal  of  England,  dragged 
as  far  as  the  river,  thrown  into  a  boat,  and  from  thence  a 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  353 

vessel  bore  him  towards  Calais.  A  rumor  was  thereupon  spread 
that  he  had  been  assassinated  ;  the  king  published  a  procla 
mation  declaring  that  the  arrests  had  been  made  with  the  ap 
proval  of  his  uncles  of  Lancaster  and  York,  as  well  as  of  his 
cousin,  the  Earl  of  Derby.  He  had  even  obtained,  by  a  ruse, 
their  signatures  to  the  impeachment.  Lord  Arundel  was  con 
demned  by  the  Parliament,  and  immediately  executed ;  his 
brother,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  not  even  ad 
mitted  to  plead  his  cause,  for  the  king  dreaded  his  eloquence : 
he  was  banished  for  life;  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  at  first 
condemned  to  death,  was  imprisoned  in  the  Isle  of  Man.  The 
House  of  Lords  then  called  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  for  judg 
ment  ;  but  the  marshal  replied  that  he  could  not  bring  the 
Lord  Duke,  who  had  for  several  days  been  dead  at  Calais.  He 
was  condemned,  however,  and  all  his  goods  were  confiscated ; 
it  was  said  that  he  had  been  suffocated  between  two  mat 
tresses.  The  judges  were  not  without  uneasiness  concerning 
the  application  which  they  had  just  made  of  the  high-treason 
law;  nearly  all  had  been,  at  different  periods,  compromised  in 
plots  or  insurrections.  They  obtained  of  the  king  an  amnesty 
for  the  past ;  and,  as  a  reward  for  present  services,  Richard 
made  his  cousin,  the  Earl  of  Derby,  Duke  of  Hereford ;  the 
Earl  of  Nottingham  became  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  John  Hol 
land,  the  murderer,  was  made  Duke  of  Exeter.  The  Parlia 
ment  completed  its  work  of  complaisance  by  granting  to  the 
king,  for  life,  a  subsidy  upon  wools,  and  by  forming  a  com 
mission,  intrusted  to  watch  affairs.  King  Richard  was  no 
longer  in  a  hurry  to  appeal  to  his  people,  or  to  convoke  the 
Parliament. 

The  conduct  of  the  king  towards  his  uncle  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  and  his  friends,  the  vengeance  which  had  overtaken, 
after  so  many  years,  the  enemies  of  the  favorites,  revealed  the 
character  of  the  sovereign  in  a  light  which  caused  uneasiness 

VOL.  i.  45 


354  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

in  the  country.  Indolent  and  prodigal,  habitually  engrossed 
in  the  pleasures  of  luxury  and  magnificence,  Richard  was  not 
only  capable  of  momentary  energy,  but  he  maintained  in  the 
bottom  of  his  heart  projects  which  he  brought  to  fulfilment 
with  patient  perseverance.  Once  delivered  of  the  Parliament 
and  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  aged 
and  in  retirement  in  his  castle,  Richard  gave  himself  up  to 
all  his  whims,  certain,  as  he  thought,  of  encountering  no 
serious  opposition.  "  At  that  time,"  says  Froissart,  "  no  one 
was  great  enough  in  England  to  dare  to  speak  against  the 
will  of  the  king.  He  had  a  council  obedient  to  his  wishes,  who 
begged  him  to  do  as  he  pleased;  and  he  had  in  his  pay  ten 
thousand  archers,  who  guarded  him  day  and  night."  The 
extravagances  of  the  court  were  insensate,  and  the  people 
began  to  complain,  looking  back  regretfully  upon  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  king's  uncles,  who  had  shown  some  consid 
eration,  they  said,  for  the  nation,  and  consulted  it  in  its  own 
affairs. 

Two  great  noblemen  alone  remained  of  those  who  had,  in 
1386,  seconded  the  efforts  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  against 
the  favorites  of  the  king  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  favor 
shown  to  them  by  Richard,  they  did  not  feel  secure  in  their 
positions.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  galloping  upon  the  road  to 
Windsor,  in  the  month  of  December,  1397,  encountered  the 
Duke  of  Hereford.  "  We  are  ruined,"  said  he  to  his  friend. 
"Wherefore?"  asked  Bolingbroke.  "  For  that  affair  at  Rad- 
cot  Bridge."  *  "  What !  after  so  many  pardons  and  declara 
tions  by  the  Parliament?"  rejoined  Bolingbroke.  "He  will 
annul  all  that,  and  we  shall  come  to  the  same  fate  as  the 
others ;  the  world  in  which  we  live  is  strangely  perfidious." 
The  Duke  of  Norfolk  soon  had  reason  to  be  convinced  of  this. 

*  The  Duke  of  Ireland  (Robert  de  Vere)  had  been  defeated  by  Gloucester  and 
his  companions,  at  Radcot  Bridge. 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  355 

Either  through  thoughtlessness  or  through  treachery,  the  con 
versation  was  reported  to  the  king ;  he  convoked  the  Parlia 
ment,  and  his  first  care  in  the  month  of  January,  1398,  was 
to  summon  Henry  Bolingbroke  to  render  an  account  of  the 
words  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  The  latter  was  not  present, 
but  upon  the  summons  of  the  Parliament,  he  came  to  throw 
down  his  glove  at  the  feet  of  the  Duke  of  Hereford,  declar 
ing  him  a  traitor  and  a  perjurer:  the  combat  was  authorized 
between  the  two  noblemen.  "  I  shall  then  at  length  have 
peace,"  muttered  the  king,  while  proceeding  to  Coventry,  on 
the  16th  of  September,  to  be  present  at  the  tournament.  But 
having  once  confronted  the  two  antagonists,  he  became  fear 
ful  of  a  victory  for  one  of  them,  and,  forbidding  the  ordeal,  he 
submitted  the  question  to  a  Parliamentary  commission  chosen 
by  himself.  The  Duke  of  Hereford  was  condemned  to  an 
exile  of  ten  years.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk  was  banished  forever. 
He  thereupon  started  for  the  Holy  Land,  and  died  of  grief 
at  Venice.  But  Henry  Bolingbroke  did  not  go  far  away ;  he 
remained  in  France,  watching  the  movements  of  his  cousin 
Richard,  who  lavished  the  riches  of  England  with  so  thought 
less  a  hand,  that  his  treasury  was  constantly  empty.  His 
favorites  would  then  help  him  to  replenish  it  by  exactions  of 
every  kind.  The  Duke  of  Lancaster  had  died  three  months 
after  the  departure  of  his  son ;  his  immense  property  was 
confiscated,  notwithstanding  the  protests  of  Bolingbroke.  A 
decree  outlawed  seventeen  counties  of  England,  as  having  been 
favorable  to  the  enemies  of  the  king ;  they  were  compelled  to 
buy  back  their  rights  with  enormous  fines.  The  disaffection 
increased,  but  the  king  took  no  heed  whatever  of  it.  He  em 
barked  towards  the  end  of  May,  1390,  for  Ireland,  where  his 
cousin  and  heir-presumptive,  the  Earl  of  March,  had  recently 
been  assassinated.  He  had  just  taken  the  field  against  the 
rebels,  when  Henry  Bolingbroke  landed,  on  the  4th  of  July,  at 


356  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

Ravenspur,  in   Yorkshire,  having  escaped  from   France  under 
the  pretext  of  paying  a  visit  to  the  Duke  of  Brittany. 

Bolingbroke  had  brought  with  him  a  feeble  following:  the 
exiled  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  his  nephew,  the  Earl 
of  Araindel,  fifteen  knights  and  men-at-arms,  and  a  few  ser 
vants  ;  but  scarcely  had  he  touched  the  English  soil,  when 
the  Earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmoreland  joined  him, 
bringing  with  them  considerable  forces.  Henry  did  not  dis 
close  his  ulterior  projects  to  anybody ;  he  came,  he  said,  to 
claim  his  right,  the  inheritance  of  his  father,  which  the  king 
had  wrongfully  confiscated;  and  the  public  feeling  was  so 
favorable  to  him,  the  nation  was  so  weary  of  seeing  itself  ill- 
governed,  that  the  malcontents  rose  in  all  parts  to  place  them 
selves  under  his  standard.  He  was,  it  is  said,  at  the  head  of 
an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men  when  he  advanced  towards 
London.  The  Duke  of  York,  regent  of  the  kingdom  in  the 
absence  of  Richard,  did  not  rely  upon  the  burgesses  of  the 
City;  he  had  quitted  the  capital,  and  displayed  the  royal 
standard  at  St.  Alban's.  Terror  began  to  seize  the  creatures 
of  the  king :  instead  of  marching  against  the  rebels,  they  tim 
idly  shut  themselves  up  in  the  fortified  castles.  The  Duke 
of  York  had  taken  the  western  road,  pending  the  return  of 
King  Richard ;  but  Bolingbroke  had  used  diligence,  and  he 
arrived  at  the  Severn  on  the  same  day  as  the  regent.  The 
latter  placed  little  confidence  in  his  troops;  he  was  aware  of 
the  general  discontent,  and  he  retained  in  the  bottom  of  his 
heart  a  bitter  resentment  for  the  murder  of  his  brother  Glouces 
ter.  He  granted  an  interview  to  his  nephew  Bolingbroke : 
the  firm,  bold,  and  cunning  mind  of  Henry  triumphed  easily 
over  the  feeble  will  of  the  Duke  of  York ;  the  two  armies 
were  amalgamated,  and  the  regent  helped  the  usurper  to  take 
Bristol  Castle.  There  the  members  of  the  commission  which 
had  formerly  condemned  Bolingbroke  had  taken  refuge ;  they 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  357 

were  executed  without  any  other  form  of  trial,  and  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster  marched  upon  Chester,  leaving  his  uncle 
at  Bristol. 

For  three  weeks  Richard  had  remained  in  ignorance  of  what 
was  taking  place  in  his  kingdom.  When  he  at  length  learned 
the  news  of  the  landing  of  Henry  and  his  formidable  suc 
cesses,  he  exclaimed  bitterly,  "  Ah  !  my  good  uncle  of  Lan 
caster,  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  your  soul !  If  I  had  believed 
you,  although  this  man  might  be  your  son,  he  would  never 
have  harmed  me.  Three  times  I  have  forgiven  him  ;  this  is 
his  fourth  offence."  The  Earl  of  Salisbury  immediately  set 
sail  to  assemble  together  some  troops  in  England :  he  had 
raised  a  considerable  force  in  Wales  ;  but  the  king  delayed,  the 
soldiers  murmured,  and  dispersed  by  degrees ;  a  large  number 
went  and  joined  the  rebels.  The  king  at  length  disembarked 
with  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  and  his  two  broth 
ers,  the  Dukes  of  Exeter  and  Surrey.  The  little  army  which 
he  had  taken  to  Ireland  followed  him  ;  but  at  the  second 
halting-place,  when  the  king,  having  risen  very  early,  looked 
through  the  window  towards  the  camp,  where  on  the  previous 
evening  six  thousand  soldiers  had  slept,  he  no  longer  saw 
but  a  handful  of  archers  and  men-at-arms  ;  all  had  deserted 
during  the  night.  The  king  was  advised  to  take  refuge  at 
Bordeaux.  "  That  would  be  to  abdicate,"  said  his  brother, 
the  Duke  of  Exeter.  It  was  resolved  that  they  should  join 
the  Earl  of  Salisbury ;  and  the  king,  disguised  as  a  priest,  took 
the  road  to  Conway,  with  his  brothers  and  a  few  servants, 
while  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  following  the  example  of  his 
father,  the  Duke  of  York,  fled  by  night  to  join  the  army  of 
the  usurper. 

The  Earl  of  Salisbury  had  not  a  hundred  men  with  him 
when  the  king  arrived  at  Conway.  In  this  deplorable  situa 
tion,  the  brothers  of  King  Richard  proposed  to  go  to  Henry  at 


358  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

Chester,  in  order  to  ascertain  his  pretensions.  The  two  dukes 
did  not  return ;  their  cousin  Bolingbroke  received  them  kind 
ly,  but  he  positively  refused  to  release  them:  all  his  efforts 
were  directed  towards  seizing  the  king  in  person.  The  Earl 
of  Northumberland  was  intrusted  with  this  mission.  By  false 
promises  he  enticed  the  king  out  of  Conway,  proposing  an  in 
terview  with  Bolingbroke  at  Flint.  Richard  was  almost  alone, 
abandoned ;  he  followed  the  earl  with  the  friends  who  re 
mained  to  him.  They  galloped  along  slowly,  when  suddenly 
the  king  cried,  "  I  am  betrayed  !  Lord  in  Heaven,  help  me ! 
Do  you  not  see  banners  and  pennants  flying  in  the  valley?" 
Northumberland  advanced  at  the  same  time.  "  My  lord," 
the  unhappy  monarch  said  to  him  abruptly,  "  if  I  thought  you 
capable  of  betraying  me,  I  could  yet  retreat."  "  No,"  replied 
the  Earl,  who  had  laid  hold  of  his  bridle  ;  "  I  have  promised 
to  conduct  you  to  the  Duke  of  Lancaster."  The  soldiers  of 
Northumberland  began  to  appear;  the  king  yielded  to  neces 
sity.  "  Our  Saviour  was  sold  and  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  his  enemies,"  he  murmured. 

They  arrived  at  Flint.  Henry  Bolingbroke,  in  complete 
armor,  came  forward  to  meet  his  royal  cousin,  and  bent  his 
knee  on  approaching.  "Good  cousin  of  Lancaster,"  said  Rich 
ard,  courteously,  "  you  are  welcome."  "  My  lord,"  replied 
Henry,  "  I  have  come  before  my  time,  but  I  will  tell  you  the 
reason  :  your  people  complain  that  you  have  governed  them 
harshly  for  twenty-two  years  ;  if  it  please  God,  I  will  help  you 
to  rule  them  better."  "  Since  it  pleases  you,  it  pleases  us 
also,"  meekly  replied  the  fallen  monarch  ;  and,  seated  upon  a 
wretched  palfrey,  like  a  prisoner,  King  Richard  took  the  road 
to  Chester,  side  by  side  with  Henry  Bolingbroke.  Froissart 
relates  that  his  very  dog  abandoned  him  to  lick  the  hand  of  the 
usurper. 

At  Lichfield  Richard  attempted  to  escape  ;  but  he  was  seized 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  359 

as  he  had  just  issued  forth  through  a  window,  and  more  nar 
rowly  guarded  than  before.  The  people  of  London  received 
him  with  yells  and  insults.  The  usurper  repaired  to  St.  Paul's, 
prayed  upon  the  tomb  of  his  father,  and  then  took  possession 
of  the  palace.  The  king  had  been  led  to  the  Tower. 

The  Parliament  was  convoked,  and  ready  to  depose  Rich 
ard  II.,  as  it  had  formerly  deposed  his  great-grandfather  ;  but 
Henry  Bolingbroke,  with  a  bitter  foresight  of  the  mutability 
of  human  things,  wished  to  secure  the  personal  consent  and 
the  voluntary  abdication  of  the  king.  He  held  him  narrowly 
confined  within  the  Tower.  "  Why  do  you  cause  me  to  be 
thus  guarded  ?  "  Richard  angrily  exclaimed  one  day.  "  Am  I 
your  king  or  your  prisoner?"  "  You  are  my  king,"  replied 
the  duke ;  "  but  the  council  of  your  kingdom  have  seen  fit  to 
place  a  guard  beside  your  person."  On  the  eve  of  the  open 
ing  of  Parliament,  a  deputation  of  prelates  and  barons  paid 
a  visit  to  the  unhappy  king  in  the  Tower,  and  asked  him  to 
abdicate.  Richard  felt  himself  powerless  in  the  hands  of  his 
enemies  ;  he  yielded,  "  willingly  and  joyfully,"  say  the  acts 
of  Parliament;  and,  releasing  his  subjects  from  their  oath,  he 
consigned  his  royal  ring  to  his  cousin  of  Lancaster,  saying  that 
he  would  choose  him  for  his  successor,  if  he  had  the  right  to 
designate  him.  These  details  are  open  to  doubt;  but  the 
Parliament  held  them  good,  and  on  the  30th  of  September, 
before  the  empty  throne,  in  Westminster  Hall,  the  abdication 
of  Richard  was  read  aloud,  all  the  members  giving  their  con 
sent  to  it.  The  people  uttered  cries  of  joy.  The  coronation 
oath  was  then  brought,  and,  at  each  article,  proclaimed  aloud, 
the  impeachment  of  King  Richard  was  drawn  up.  He  was 
accused  of  the  murder  of  his  uncle  Gloucester ;  of  having 
revoked  the  amnesties,  and  of  having  squandered  the  public 
money.  Nobody  raised  his  voice  for  the  dethroned  monarch 
until  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  Thomas  Merks,  rose  and  publicly 


360  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XII. 

denied  the  right  of  the  Parliament  to  depose  the  king  and  to 
change  the  order  of  succession,  at  the  same  time  defending 
Richard  against  his  accusers.  Scarcely  had  he  finished  his  dis 
course,  when  he  was  arrested.  While  he  was  being  conducted 
to  St.  Alban's,  the  Parliament  pronounced  the  deposition  of 
Richard,  and  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  was  instructed  to  announce 
his  fall  to  him.  "  I  care  not  to  court  the  regal  authority," 
said  the  deposed  king ;  "I  only  hope  that  niy  fair  cousin 
will  be  a  good  master  to  me." 

His  fair  cousin  was  not  yet  legally  king :  the  descendants 
of  Lionel,  the  third  son  of  Edward  III.,  were  the  legitimate 
heirs  to  the  throne  ;  no  one,  however,  thought  of  them.  The 
Duke  of  Lancaster  had  remained  in  his  seat ;  his  surrounders 
waited  in  profound  silence.  He  rose,  and,  solemnly  making 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  said  in  a  very  loud  voice,  "  In  the  name 
of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  I,  Henry  of 
Lancaster,  lay  claim  to  this  kingdom  of  England  and  to  the 
crown,  as  a  descendant  of  the  good  King  Henry  III.,  and  by 
the  right  which  God  has  given  me,  by  granting  to  me  the 
favor,  through  the  support  of  my  friends,  to  come  to  the  assist 
ance  of  this  country,  which  was  about  to  perish  under  bad 
laws  and  for  want  of  government." 

This  mixture  of  hereditary  pretensions  with  popular  rights 
was  skilful.  The  Parliament  responded  to  the  appeal  of 
Henry  Bolingbroke ;  acclamations  broke  out  in  all  parts ;  the 
duke  showed  the  ring  which  Richard  had  consigned  to  him ;  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  took  him  by  the  hand  and  led  him 
to  the  foot  of  the  throne.  Henry  knelt  there  for  a  moment ; 
he  then  ascended  the  steps  and  seated  himself  resolutely.  The 
plaudits  recommenced  during  the  discourse  of  the  archbishop. 
44 1  thank  you,  my  lord,"  said  the  new  monarch ;  "  and  I  wish 
everybody  to  know  that,  by  right  of  conquest,  I  will  disinherit 
nobody  of  his  rights,  but  wish  that  each  may  be  governed  by 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  361 

the  good  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  may  hold  what  he  has 
by  right."  The  officers  of  the  crown  and  the  great  noblemen, 
also  vowed  fealty  and  homage  :  Henry  IV.  was  king  of 
England. 

In  the  first  days  of  his  reign,  the  new  sovereign  was  en 
abled  to  believe  that  public  opinion  fully  confirmed  his  usur 
pation.  All  the  great  noblemen  were  eager  to  fulfil  at  his 
coronation  their  hereditary  offices  ;  the  Earl  of  Northumberland 
alone,  who  had  rendered  eminent  services  to  him,  marched 
beside  him  in  the  procession,  holding  aloft  in  sight  of  all  the 
sword  worn  by  Bolingbroke  on  landing  at  Ravenspur.  The 
House  of  Commons  responded  to  the  slightest  wishes  of  the 
king,  and  the  greater  number  of  the  unpopular  measures  of 
the  last  reign  were  withdrawn  by  common  consent.  A  great 
uproar  arose  in  the  House  of  Lords :  the  peers  who  had  ap 
pealed  against  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  were  summoned  to 
exculpate  themselves ;  all  took  their  stand  upon  the  wish  of 
King  Richard,  upon  the  fear  which  he  inspired,  and  upon  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  House.  Recriminations  poured  down  in 
every  part ;  forty  gauntlets  were  thrown  upon  the  ground  as 
challenges  to  combat.  A  weak  and  timid  monarch  would  have 
taken  alarm  in  the  midst  of  this  violent  confusion :  Henry  IV. 
was  enabled  to  calm  the  agitation.  He  divested  the  "  lords 
appellant,"  as  they  were  styled,  of  the  titles  which  Richard 
had  given  to  them  as  rewards ;  the  Dukes  of  Albemarle, 
Surrey,  and  Exeter,  the  Marquis  of  Dorset,  and  the  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  became  once  more  the  Earls  of  Rutland,  Kent, 
Huntingdon,  and  Somerset,  and  Lord  Le  Despencer ;  but 
the  new  king  wreaked  no  other  vengeance  upon  them.  The 
high-treason  law  was  restored  to  more  limited  and  less 
vague  terms ;  appeals  to  the  Houses  in  cases  of  treason  were 
abolished,  and  the  Parliament  was  forbidden  to  delegate  its 
authority  to  a  commission.  The  eldest  son  of  the  king  was 

VOL.  i.  46 


862  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.       [CHAP.  XII. 

declared  Prince  of  Wales,  Duke  of  Guienne,  Lancaster,  and 
Cornwall,  as  well  as  heir-apparent  to  the  throne.  Henry 
was  too  prudent  to  again  raise  the  question  of  the  law  of 
succession  which  he  had  so  boldly  disregarded  :  he  did  not 
wish  his  hereditary  right  to  the  throne  to  be  discussed  ;  he 
well  knew  that  the  little  Earl  of  March,  so  carefully  installed 
in  Windsor  Castle,  was  the  real  heir  to  the  throne,  as  great- 
grandson  of  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  the  elder  brother  of 
John  of  Gaunt.  The  child  was  not  nine  years  of  age  ;  the 
king  caused  him  to  be  well  brought  up,  as  well  as  his  brother, 
and  neither  was  destined  to  recover  his  liberty  during  his 
lifetime  ;  but  their  sister,  soon  afterwards  married  to  the  Earl 
of  Cambridge,  had  transmitted  to  the  House  of  York  those  rights 
or  those  pretensions  which  condemned  England  to  half  a 
century  of  civil  war. 

Difficulties  abound  in  the  path  of  usurpers.  King  Richard 
had  not  protested,  he  had  asked  for  nothing,  but  he  still  lived 
in  the  Tower.  Before  dissolving  the  Parliament,  King  Henry 
IV.  dispatched  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  to  the  House  of 
Lords.  The  latter  asked  that  the  message  with  which  he  was 
intrusted  should  be  kept  secret ;  he  then  consulted  the  House 
upon  the  manner  in  which  the  dispossessed  king  was  to  be 
treated  ;  "  for  my  master  Henry,"  he  added,  "  has  resolved, 
at  any  cost,  to  preserve  the  life  of  Richard."  The  Lords  all 
replied  that  King  Richard  should  be  secretly  led  away  to 
some  castle,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  faithful  custodians, 
who  should  prevent  all  communication  with  his  friends.  This 
was  the  sanction  which  Henry  IV.  wished  for ;  the  dispossessed 
monarch  was  conducted  to  Leeds  Castle,  in  Kent,  and  then 
transferred  by  night  from  castle  to  castle,  as  had  been  his  great 
grandfather,  Edward  II.  In  the  month  of  January,  Richard 
had  arrived  in  Pontefract  Castle,  in  Yorkshire. 

The   removal    of  the    dethroned   king   could   not    suffice  to 


Illu 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  363 

strengthen  the  power ;  conspiracies  were  already  beginning. 
The  Lords  appellant  had  scarcely  been  punished,  but  their 
fears  as  well  as  their  resentment  urged  them  to  revenge. 
They  had  formed  the  project  of  assassinating  Henry  and  of 
replacing  Richard  upon  the  throne.  A  tournament  was  an 
nounced  at  Oxford  for  the  3d  of  January,  and  the  Earl  of 
Huntingdon,  the  brother-in-law  of  the  king,  invited  the  latter 
to  be  present  thereat.  The  invitation  was  accepted.  The 
murder  was  to  be  accomplished  during  the  jousts ;  the  king 
and  his  son  were  to  succumb  beneath  numbers.  The  day 
came  ;  the  king  had  not  arrived,  and  the  Earl  of  Rutland 
was  absent  from  the  place  of  meeting.  The  conspirators  saw 
themselves  betrayed  ;  but  a  bold  stroke  might  yet  save  them ; 
they  galloped  to  Windsor,  and  took  possession  of  the  castle. 
The  king  was  no  longer  there :  warned  in  time,  he  had  taken 
refuge  in  London.  The  arrest  warrants  were  already  issued 
against  the  traitors,  and,  on  the  morrow,  Henry  marched  against 
them,  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force.  They  did  not  await 
him,  and  fled  to  arm  their  vassals.  Civil  war  appeared  im 
minent  ;  but  public  opinion  was  with  King  Henry :  it  admin 
istered  justice  to  the  conspirators,  without  the  king  being 
obliged  to  interfere.  The  citizens  of  Cirencester  seized  the 
Earls  of  Kent  and  Salisbury,  arid  struck  off  their  heads  ;  Lord 
Le  Despencer  was  beheaded  by  the  citizens  of  Bristol ;  the 
Earl  of  Huntingdon  was  destroyed  at  Fleshy  by  the  ser 
vants  of  the  late  Duke  of  Gloucester.  The  king  had  only  to 
cause  the  trial  of  a  few  accomplices  of  low  degree,  but  the 
attempt  of  the  lords  appellant  probably  cost  the  life  of  King 
Richard ;  it  was  learned,  towards  the  end  of  January,  that  he 
had  died  at  Pontefract.  It  was  related  that  he  had  refused 
to  take  any  food  since  the  death  of  his  brothers,  the  Earls  of 
Kent  and  Huntingdon  ;  distrustful  people  asserted  that  he  had 
been  starved  to  death.  Others  maintained  that  he  had  been 


364  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

attacked  in  his  prison  by  some  assassins,  and  that,  after  having 
valiantly  defended  himself,  he  had  been  killed  by  a  blow  be 
hind  the  head.  When  the  body  of  the  unhappy  monarch  was 
brought  to  London,  before  being  interred  at  Langley  a  por 
tion  only  of  the  face  was  uncovered.  The  details  of  his  death 
were  forever  unknown,  and  many  people  were  resolute  in 
denying  the  fact. 

The  little  Queen  Isabel  had  remained  in  England  during 
the  lifetime  of  her  husband,  notwithstanding  her  father's  wish 
to  see  her  return  to  his  side.  The  death  of  his  son-in-law 
caused  one  of  his  most  fatal  attacks  of  insanity  to  poor  King 
Charles  VI. ;  but  his  uncles  were  anxious  to  profit  by  the  in 
dignation  which  was  manifested  at  Bordeaux,  the  birthplace 
of  the  deposed  monarch  ;  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  and  Bour 
bon  advanced  towards  Guienne,  and  the  first  movement  of 
the  population  was  favorable  to  their  wish.  "  Richard  was  the 
best  man  in  his  kingdom,"  it  was  said  at  Bordeaux,  "  and 
the  people  of  London  have  treacherously  abandoned  him." 
But  as  the  French  army  advanced,  the  ardor  of  the  Gascons 
abated.  The  French  were  poor,  and  annoyed  by  subsidies  and 
taxes,  which  were  sometimes  repeated  upon  two  or  three 
occasions  during  the  year.  "  We  are  not  accustomed  to  be 
treated  thus,"  said  the  English  subjects,  "and  it  would  be 
too  hard  upon  us.  We  have  still  a  king,  and  he  will  send 
his  ministers  to  us  to  explain  himself.  Meanwhile,  we  have  a 
large  commerce  with  England,  in  wine,  in  wool,  and  in  cloth." 
The  uncles  of  the  king  were  compelled  to  retire  without 
having  accomplished  anything.  Henry  IV.  was  in  no  hurry  to 
renew  the  war  with  France  ;  he  caused  a  proposal  to  be  made 
to  marry  the  little  Queen  to  the  Prince  of  Wales ;  but  the 
father  and  the  daughter  rejected  this  alliance.  Charles  VI. 
claimed  with  Isabel  his  jewels  and  the  two  hundred  thousand 
livres  in  gold  which  King  Richard  had  received  upon  her 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLIXGBROKE.  365 

dowry.  Henry  was  poor,  and  the  sum  considerable ;  when 
the  young  Queen  was  at  length  consigned  to  her  family,  in 
the  month  of  August,  1401,  the  ambassadors  of  England  re 
plied  to  the  claims  of  the  French  by  a  demand  for  a  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  crowns  of  gold  which  remained  due  upon 
the  ransom  of  King  John  the  Good.  The  question  of  the 
dowry  of  Isabel  was  no  longer  mooted,  and  peace  subsisted 
between  the  twTo  countries  during  the  greater  part  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  IV.,  notwithstanding  the  challenges  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  and  Wallerand  of  Luxembourg,  Count  of  Ligny  and 
St.  Pol,  which  gave  rise  to  slight  hostilities  upon  the  coasts. 
Good  warrior  as  he  was,  the  King  of  England  had  too  much 
to  do  at  home,  and  too  much  trouble  to  consolidate  his  throne 
to  seek  afar  for  hazardous  adventures. 

At  the  very  outset  of  his  reign,  however,  and  on  the 
morrow  of  the  conspiracy  of  the  lords  appellant,  Henry  had 
attempted  an  expedition  into  Scotland.  Not  daring  to  ask 
subsidies  of  the  Parliament,  the  king  had  had  recourse  to  the 
military  service  of  the  feudal  system,  and,  convoking  under 
his  banners  all  holders  of  fiefs,  and  furnished  with  the  tithe 
voted  by  the  clergy,  he  had  advanced  as  far  as  Edinburgh, 
to  summon  King  Robert,  the  Duke  of  Rothsay,  his  son,  and 
all  the  great  Scottish  noblemen  to  come  and  render  homage 
to  him.  Robert  III.  was  aged,  feeble,  and  infirm  ;  he  had 
abandoned  the  power  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Albany, 
constantly  at  contention  with  the  heir  to  the  throne,  the  Duke 
of  Rothsay,  sanguine,  thoughtless,  and  venturesome.  The 
young  duke  hastened  to  Edinburgh,  to  defend  it.  Henry  was 
repulsed ;  his  provisions  failed  him :  he  was  compelled  to 
withdraw  from  Scotland,  having  reaped  no  other  glory  in  this 
campaign  than  the  humanity  towards  the  peasants,  of  which 
he  had  given  proofs,  and  the  discipline  which  he  had  been 
enabled  to  maintain  in  his  army. 


POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

While  the  King  of  England  was  fighting  and  suffering  fail 
ure  in  Scotland,  an  unexpected  insurrection  broke  out  in 
Wales.  A  lawyer,  who  had  afterwards  served  as  esquire  in 
the  house  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  a  Welshman,  —  descending, 
it  was  said,  from  Llewellyn,  the  last  Welsh  prince,  —  Owen 
Glendower  or  Glendwyr,  had  seen  his  little  estate  encroached 
upon  through  the  avidity  of  a  powerful  neighbor,  Lord  Grey 
de  Ruthyn.  Owen  had  appealed  to  the  Parliament ;  his  com 
plaint  had  been  rejected.  The  Welshman  resolved  to  avenge 
himself  by  force  of  arms,  and  drove  from  his  lands  the  ser 
vants  of  Lord  Grey.  He  was  thereupon  outlawed.  His  pre 
tensions  grew  with  his  anger ;  it  was  no  longer  a  question  of 
a  little  field  or  of  a  cluster  of  trees :  Owen  Glendwyr  publicly 
proclaimed  his  illustrious  origin,  laying  claim  to  the  inde 
pendent  sovereignty  of  Wales.  Fire  smouldered  under  the 
ashes  among  these  people,  subjected  for  so  many  years  ;  the 
love  of  national  liberty  was  not  extinguished.  From  all  parts 
the  Welsh  hastened  round  Owen;  students  quitted  their  uni 
versities,  laborers  their  ploughshares,  at  the  call  of  indepen 
dence.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1401,  King  Henry  IV. 
found  himself  compelled  to  proceed  to  Wales  with  an  army. 
But  Owen  was  too  shrewd  to  hazard  a  pitched  battle ;  he  left 
to  the  climate  and  to  famine  the  task  of  fighting  for  him. 
From  the  mountains  in  which  he  had  taken  refuge,  he  soon 
saw  King  Henry  compelled  to  retire.  A  second  campaign, 
attempted  in  1402,  was  not  more  fortunate  :  the  rain  fell  in 
torrents ;  the  rivers  became  swollen  at  the  approach  of  the 
English  soldiers,  who  left  Wales  convinced  that  Glendwyr 
was  a  sorcerer  in  league  with  the  elements. 

The  rumor  that  King  Richard  was  still  living  had  come 
once  more  to  be  circulated  in  Scotland  and  in  the  North  of 
England,  restoring  a  certain  amount  of  courage  to  the  mal 
contents.  In  vain  had  King  Henry  severely  punished  the 


THE  HOMAGE  VF  xi-ir  •    i-i. 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  367 

fomenters  of  this  news  ;  Richard  was  expected  with  the  Scottish 
army,  when  it  entered  into  England  in  the  spring  of  1402. 
At  the  head  of  the  English  opposition  was  a  Scotchman, 
George,  Earl  of  March.  The  Duke  of  Rothsay  was  to  have 
married  his  daughter,  and  had  then  rejected  her,  to  unite 
himself  with  the  family  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  the  heredi 
tary  enemy  of  the  Earls  of  March.  The  Earl  of  March  had 
thereupon  renounced  his  allegiance  to  the  King  of  Scotland, 
and  had  allied  himself  with  the  Percies,  all-powerful  in  the 
county  of  Northumberland.  It  was  with  his  assistance  that 
the  Scots  were  defeated  and  repulsed  at  Nesbit  Moor,  in 
June,  1402.  Internal  rancors  soon  brought  forward  a  sec 
ond  army  ;  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  furious  at  the  success  of  his 
rival,  solicited  the  assistance  of  the  Duke  of  Albany,  and,  at 
the  head  of  a  considerable  force,  he  soon  overran  the  two 
banks  of  Tyne.  Having  advanced  as  far  as  Newcastle,  he 
was  falling  back,  loaded  with  booty,  when  the  Earls  of  North 
umberland  and  March  cut  off  his  road  on  the  14th  of  Sep 
tember.  The  Scots  covered  Homildon  Hill,  and  the  English 
were  stationed  opposite  upon  another  elevation.  Hotspur 
Percy  had  already  commanded  the  charge  of  his  men-at-arms, 
when  the  Earl  of  March  restrained  him  by  the  arm.  "  Lefc 
your  archers  commence,"  he  said ;  "  the  turn  of  your  horse 
men  will  soon  come."  Arrows  rained  down  upon  the  Scots 
deployed  upon  the  flank  of  the  hill :  Douglas  did  not  stir ; 
his  men  were  falling  in  their  ranks,  when  a  Scottish  baron, 
Fordun  Swinton,  at  length  cried,  "Ah!  my  brave  comrades, 
who  restrains  you  to-day,  that  you  should  remain  there,  like 
deer  or  stags,  to  allow  yourselves  to  be  killed,  instead  of  dis 
playing  your  former  valor  by  fighting  man  to  man  I  Let  us 
descend  from  here  in  the  name  of  God ! "  And  the  Scottish 
men-at-arms,  thereupon  moving,  caused  the  English  archers 
to  fall  back.  The  latter,  however,  continued  to  shoot,  and 


368  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XII. 

Douglas  received  five  wounds ;  he  fell  from  his  horse,  and  was 
made  a  prisoner.  Disorder  set  in  in  the  Scottish  ranks ;  the 
flower  of  their  chivalry  had  been  decimated  by  the  arrows 
or  had  surrendered  without  striking  a  blow. 

The  son  of  the  Duke  of  Albany,  Murdoch  Stewart,  was 
among  the  number  of  the  prisoners.  The  English  knights  had 
not  raised  their  lances  or  drawn  their  swords ;  the  battle  had 
been  won  by  the  archers  of  old  England.  The  Earl  of  North 
umberland  arrived  on  the  20th  of  October  at  the  Parliament 
convoked  at  Westminster,  gloriously  accompanied  by  all  his 
prisoners. 

The  Percies  had  recently  gained  a  victory  for  King  Henry 
IV.,  whom  they  had  so  powerfully  contributed  to  place  upon 
the  throne.  They  were  about  to  turn  their  arms  against  him. 
Shakspeare  attributes  their  discontent  to  the  prohibition  which 
the  king  put  upon  their  setting  ransoms  upon  their  prisoners, 
a  measure  which  deprived  them  of  all  the  pecuniary  advantage 
of  the  capture ;  but  this  interdiction  had  been  frequent  under 
the  preceding  reigns,  particularly  under  Edward  III.,  and  King 
Henry  IV.  indemnified  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  by  grant 
ing  vast  domains  to  him.  Another  cause  for  anger  had  recently 
sprung  up.  During  the  lucky  campaigns  of  Owen  Glendwyr 
the  latter  had  captured  his  old  enemy,  Lord  Grey  de  Ruthyn, 
and  Sir  Edmund  Mortimer,  uncle  of  the  young  Earl  of  March, 
the  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne.  The  relatives  of  Lord  Grey 
had  been  authorized  to  redeem  him  ;  but  the  king  had  refused 
the  same  favor  to  the  family  of  Sir  Edmund.  Hotspur  Percy 
had  married  his  sister,  and,  acutely  wounded  by  this  refusal, 
he  began  to  set  on  foot  a  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  king 
and  place  the  crown  upon  the  head  of  the  little  Earl  of  March. 
He  was  confirmed  in  this  resolution  by  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
Scrope,  brother  of  the  favorite  of  Richard  II.  ;  and  the  con 
spirators  did  riot  hesitate  to  call  Owen  Glendwyr  to  their  aid. 


CHAP.  XIL]  BOLINGBROKE.  369 

He  gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  Mortimer,  and  promised 
to  invade  England  with  twelve  thousand  Welshmen.  The  Earl 
of  Douglas  was  liberated  without  any  ransom,  on  condition 
of  recrossing  the  frontier  with  a  Scottish  army.  It  is  even 
said  that  Hotspur  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  from  whom 
King  Henry  had  recently  received  a  warlike  challenge  on 
account  of  the  insults  offered  to  Queen  Isabel. 

So  many  movements  had  not  escaped  the  vigilant  eye  of 
King  Henry.  Hotspur  was  marching  forward,  commanding 
the  rebels  in  place  of  his  father,  who  was  ill ;  and  supported 
by  his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Worcester.  Henry  planted  his  army 
corps  between  the  earls  and  Owen  Glendwyr,  with  whom  they 
were  endeavoring  to  effect  a  junction.  The  Welshman  had 
made  no  haste,  and  when,  on  arriving  at  Shrewsbury,  Henry 
received  the  challenge  of  his  enemies,  it  was  issued  only 
in  the  name  of  the  Percies.  They  reproached  the  king  with 
his  usurpation,  the  death  of  Richard,  the  captivity  of  the  little 
Earl  of  March,  his  manoeuvres  in  the  election  of  Parliament, 
the  levying  of  taxes  which  had  not  been  voted  by  the  Commons, 
&c.  At  the  end  appeared  the  real  subject  of  the  quarrel,  the 
denial  of  the  negotiations  relating  to  Sir  Edmund  Mortimer. 
Henry  IV.  smiled  bitterly,  and  disdained  to  reply.  "  The 
sword  shall  decide,"  he  said,  "  and  I  am  assured  that  God 
will  give  me  victory  over  perjured  traitors."  It  was  on  the 
20th  of  July,  1403  ;  on  the  morrow  the  two  armies  found 
themselves  face  to  face  on  Shrewsbury  Plain. 

The  insurgents  numbered  about  fourteen  thousand  men ; 
the  king  had  no  more.  Before  fighting,  he  dispatched  the 
Abbot  of  Shrewsbury  to  his  adversaries,  with  proposals  for 
peace.  Hotspur,  less  impetuous  than  Shakspeare  has  depicted 
him,  hesitated ;  but  the  Earl  of  Worcester  persuaded  him  to 
reject  the  royal  overtures.  "  Banners  to  the  front,  then  ! " 
cried  Henry.  The  combat  began.  "  St.  George  !  "  was  the 

VOL.  i.  47 


370  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XII. 

cry  around  the  king.  "  Hope  I  Percy  !  "  responded  the  rebels. 
The  archers  were  drawing  on  both  sides,  and  the  knights  did 
not  abandon  to  them,  as  at  Homildon  Hill,  all  the  honor  of 
the  combat.  Percy  and  Douglas,  rivals  in  glory,  had  precipi 
tated  themselves  together  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy  with  a 
small  following  ;  everything  gave  way  before  them  ;  the  Prince 
of  Wales  had  been  wounded  in  the  face.  They  sought  for 
the  king ;  but,  upon  the  advice  of  the  Scottish  refugee,  the 
Earl  of  March,  he  had  laid  aside,  for  that  day,  all  the  royal 
insignia,  and  he  fought  valiantly,  without  having  been  recog 
nized.  At  the  moment  when  the  two  chiefs  of  the  insurgents 
endeavored  to  retrace  their  steps,  opening  up  a  way  through 
the  crowd  of  the  enemies,  Percy  was  struck  by  an  arrow  in 
the  head,  and  fell  dead.  Disorder  immediately  set  in  among 
his  partisans.  Douglas  had  been  made  a  prisoner;  the  Earl 
of  Worcester  shortly  afterwards  suffered  the  same  fate,  as  well 
as  the  Lord  of  Kinderton  and  Sir  Richard  Vernon.  The  trai 
tors'  punishment  awaited  the  three  Englishmen.  Douglas  was 
honorably  treated.  The  field  of  battle  was  covered  with  dead 
and  dying.  The  insurgents  had  fled  ;  they  went  and  carried 
to  the  old  Earl  of  Northumberland  the  news  of  the  defeat 
and  death  of  his  son.  He  was  marching  forward  to  join  him, 
and  he  thereupon  shut  himself  up  in  his  castle  at  Warkworth. 
Being  summoned  to  appear  before  the  king  at  York,  he  was 
detained  there  in  honorable  captivity  until  the  Parliament 
should  have  decided  upon  his  fate.  He  had  not  taken  part 
personally  in  the  insurrection,  and  he  declared  that  his  son 
had  acted  without  his  approval.  The  Lords  treated  him  with 
indulgence ;  he  retired  after  having  sworn  fidelity  to  the  king 
and  the  Prince  of  Wales.  Eighteen  months  had  not  elapsed 
before  he  was  again  in  arms  against  Henry. 

The  conspiracies  had  not  ceased  in  this  interval.     A  former 
chamberlain  of  King  Richard,  named  Serle,  had  again  spread 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  371 

the  rumor  that  that  monarch  was  living.  He  led  about  with 
him  a  poor  idiot  who  resembled  Richard,  and  a  certain  number 
of  partisans  had  rallied  round  him.  Three  princes  of  the  House 
of  Bourbon  had  attacked  the  islands  of  Jersey  and  Guern 
sey,  and  burned  down  the  town  of  Plymouth ;  the  French 
vessels  had  brought  reinforcements  to  Owen  Glendwyr,  against 
whom  the  young  Prince  of  Wales  was  at  war ;  and  a  woman, 
Lady  Le  Despencer,  had  carried  off  the  young  Earl  of  March 
and  his  brother.  She  was  already  approaching  the  frontiers 
of  Wales  when  she  was  seized,  and  the  prisoners  were  brought 
back  to  Windsor.  She  exculpated  herself  by  throwing  the 
responsibility  of  the  undertaking  upon  her  brother,  the  Duke 
of  York,  formerly  Earl  of  Rutland.  He  was  arrested,  and 
languished  for  several  years  in  prison. 

King  Henry  had  always  avoided  asking  large  subsidies  of 
the  Parliament ;  he  was  not  sufficiently  assured  of  the  affec 
tion  of  his  people  to  ask  any  sacrifices  of  them.  In  1404, 
however,  he  had  come  to  the  end  of  his  resources,  and  in 
a  parliament  known  in  history  as  "  the  lack-learning,"  be 
cause  the  king  had,  it  was  said,  dismissed  from  it  all  the  law 
yers,  he  made  a  proposal  which  was  ardently  sustained  by 
the  Commons :  it  forbade  the  king  to  alienate  the  property 
of  the  crown  without  the  authorization  of  Parliament,  but 
permitted  him  to  take  back  all  the  gifts  of  land  and  the 
pensions  granted  by  his  predecessors ;  he  was  even  allowed 
to  seize  a  certain  portion  of  the  property  of  the  clergy.  The 
Church  uttered  a  cry  of  terror  and  rage,  which  arrested  the 
zeal  of  the  king  and  the  Commons.  Henry  hastened  to 
renounce  his  project,  assuring  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
that  it  was  his  intention  to  leave  the  Church  in  a  better 
position  than  he  had  found  it ;  but  he  accomplished  his  res 
olutions  upon  the  lands  and  pensions  given  by  Edward  III. 
and  Richard  II.  The  disaffection  of  the  barons  was  very 


372  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

great,  and   the  uneasiness  of  the  clergy  was  in  no   wise  dis 
pelled. 

In  1405,  two  great  councils  were  convoked  by  the  king : 
in  London  and  at  St.  Alban's.  There  the  bad  state  of 
feeling  was  manifested ;  all  the  demands  of  the  king  were 
rejected,  and  more  than  one  baron  quitted  St.  Alban's  to 
join  the  insurgents,  who  were  again  beginning  to  form  in 
groups  round  the  Earl  of  Northumberland.  The  Archbishop 
of  York  had  this  time  taken  up  arms ;  he  was  made  a 
prisoner,  as  well  as  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,  by  Prince  John, 
the  second  son  of  the  king.  In  vain  did  the  archbishop 
claim  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  the  earl  that  of  his  peers ; 
in  vain  did  Chief  Justice  Gascoyne  refuse  to  preside  at  their 
trial :  the  king  had  resolved  to  make  an  example.  He  found 
some  more  complaisant  magistrates ;  the  archbishop  and  the 
Earl  of  Nottingham  were  beheaded ;  a  fine  was  imposed  upon 
the  city  of  York,  temporarily  deprived  of  its  charters,  and 
the  king  marched  against  Berwick,  where  the  Earl  of  North 
umberland  had  taken  refuge.  On  the  way  he  caused  Lord 
Hastings  and  Lord  Falconbridge  to  be  tried,  and  they  were 
beheaded.  Berwick  surrendered ;  but  the  old  Percy  had  fled 
to  Edinburgh,  and  the  king  did  not  penetrate  into  Scotland ; 
he  contented  himself  with  ravaging  Northumberland,  taking 
possession  of  all  the  castles  which  belonged  to  the  rebels. 
He  then  turned  his  arms  in  the  direction  of  Wales,  where 
Prince  Henry  had  valiantly  sustained  the  struggle  for  nearly 
two  years.  He  had  triumphed  over  the  Welsh  at  Grosmont, 
in  Monmouthshire,  in  the  month  of  March,  1405  ;  one  of  the 
sons  of  Owen  Glendwyr  had  been  made  a  prisoner,  and  the 
prince  had  only  been  arrested  in  the  course  of  his  successes 
by  the  arrival  of  a  French  reinforcement  sent  by  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  in  defiance  of  the  truce  which  still  reigned  between 
the  two  nations.  The  young  Prince  Henry  had  been  com- 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  373 

pelled  to  withdraw  to  Worcester ;  but  the  king  soon  drove 
the  French  into  the  mountains  of  Wales,  whither  he  pursued 
them.  The  Welsh  arrested  his  march  ;  but  the  French  were 
weary  of  their  reverses,  of  the  poverty  of  their  allies,  of  the 
rough  life  which  they  led ;  they  retreated  into  their  vessels 
again.  The  king  withdrew  in  his  turn  ;  Prince  Henry  con 
tinued  the  war  with  alternations  of  successes  and  reverses, 
always  holding  his  ground  with  a  skill  and  perseverance 
worthy  of  his  adversary,  and  which  finally  wearied  the  popu 
lation.  Glendwyr  found  himself  gradually  abandoned,  and 
an  invasion  attempted  in  1409  by  his  son-in-law,  Scudamore, 
in  Shropshire,  completed  the  ruin  of  his  cause  ;  the  Welsh 
were  repulsed,  and  the  chiefs  put  to  death.  The  independent 
character  of  Owen  Glendwyr  allowed  him  neither  to  submit 
nor  to  despair ;  he  no  longer  appeared  in  the  regions  occu 
pied  by  the  English,  but  he  still  maintained  himself  in  the 
mountains,  taking  up  arms  when  his  enemies  pressed  him 
closely  in  his  haunts ;  his  name,  published  several  times  in  the 
amnesty  acts,  prove  that  he  was  neither  dead  nor  subjugated, 
even  after  the  battle  of  Agincourt.  The  period  of  his  death 
and  the  place  of  his  burial  are  unknown ;  the  end  of  his 
life  remains  enveloped  in  mystery,  as  though  he  had  really 
possessed  the  magic  power  which  his  friends  and  enemies 
attributed  to  him  in  his  lifetime. 

King  Henry  had  not  been  under  the  necessity  of  pros 
ecuting  his  campaigns  in  Scotland ;  he  held  in  his  hands  the 
heir  to  the  throne  of  that  kingdom.  The  Duke  of  Rothsay, 
imprudent  and  bold,  had  entered  into  a  contention  with  his 
uncle,  the  Duke  of  Albany.  Being  accused  of  rebellion  and 
imprisoned  in  Falkland  Castle,  he  had  there  died  of  hunger, 
it  was  said.  The  unhappy  King  Robert  had  become  alarmed 
for  the  life  of  James,  the  only  son  who  remained  to  him, 
and  he  had  embarked  him  upon  a  ship  which  was  to  take 


374  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

him  to  France,  but  the  vessel  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
some  English  cruisers,  who  brought  the  prince  in  triumph 
to  King  Henry.  "  I  speak  French  as  well  as  my  brother 
Charles,"  the  king  had  said  laughingly,  "  and  I  am  as  well 
adapted  as  he  to  bring  up  a  king  of  Scotland.''  The  young 
Prince  James  therefore  remained  at  the  court  of  England, 
closely  guarded,  but  educated  with  care,  kindly  treated,  and 
at  liberty  to  devote  himself  to  his  passion  for  poetry.  The 
old  King  Robert  had  died  of  grief  in  1406,  and  the  Duke 
of  Albany,  who  continued  to  govern  Scotland,  servilely  sub 
mitted  to  the  wishes  of  the  King  of  England,  who,  at  the 
least  appearance  of  insubordination,  threatened  him  with  the 
release  of  his  nephew.  This  state  of  affairs  was  destined  to 
be  prolonged  for  a  considerable  time. 

The  most  irreconcilable  adversary  of  the  king  had  at  length 
succumbed.  The  old  Earl  of  Northumberland,  homeless, 
childless,  and  without  riches,  had  wandered  for  more  than 
two  years  from  kingdom  to  kingdom,  endeavoring  to  raise 
up  embarrassments  and  enemies  against  King  Henry.  At  the 
beginning  of  1408,  he  appeared  in  Northumberland  with  Lord 
Bardolf,  the  friend  and  companion  of  his  whole  life.  Rallying 
a  certain  number  of  his  old  vassals,  he  overran  the  country, 
took  possession  of  several  castles,  and  had  gathered  together  a 
small  body  of  troops,  when  he  was  defeated  on  the  28th 
of  February,  by  Sir  Thomas  Rokeby,  upon  Branham  Heath, 
near  Tadcaster.  He  was  killed  in  the  combat ;  Lord  Bardolf, 
grievously  wounded,  died  shortly  afterwards,  and  their  bodies, 
cut  in  pieces,  were  sent  to  the  towns  of  Northumberland, 
where  they  had  found  adherents.  It  was  all  over  with  the 
Percies. 

The  commotions  in  France  continued  to  increase.  The 
poor  king,  Charles  VI.,  would  pass  from  furious  madness  to 
docile  melancholy ;  his  kingdom,  rent  asunder  by  factions, 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  375 

was  the  scene  of  the  crimes,  debaucheries,  and  exactions  of 
all  parties.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  had  recently  been  assas 
sinated  in  the  Rue  Barbette  (23d  of  November,  1407),  by 
the  servants  of  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  a  circum 
stance  which  had  not  prevented  the  latter  from  reappearing 
at  court,  without  fearing  punishment  from  the  king  for  this 
murder,  which  the  duke  caused  to  be  publicly  justified  at  the 
Sorbonne,  by  Maitre  Jean  Petit,  doctor  in  theology.  From 
treason  to  treason,  from  reconciliation  to  reconciliation,  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  was  all-powerful  in  1409,  when  the  young 
Duke  of  Orleans,  who  had  lost  his  wife,  Isabel  of  France, 
widow  of  King  Richard  II.,  was  married  a  second  time,  to 
Bonne,  the  daughter  of  the  wealthy  Count  of  Armagnac. 
The  time  had  at  length  arrived  for  prosecuting  revenge  : 
supported  by  the  experience  and  military  talents  of  the  count, 
the  partisans  of  the  House  of  Orleans  assumed  the  name  of 
Armagnacs ;  the  red  scarf  was  put  on  by  the  Duke  of  Berry, 
the  Duke  of  Brittany,  and  the  Duke  of  Alen^on;  John  the 
Fearless  was  driven  from  Paris,  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
sword  in  hand,  demanded  justice  for  the  death  of  his 
father. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  amid  the  factions  which  had 
desolated  France  for  ten  years,  England  was  called  upon  to 
play  a  part.  John  the  Fearless  asked  assistance  of  Henry  IV. 
The  latter  sent,  in  the  month  of  October,  1411,  a  small  body 
of  a  thousand  archers  and  eight  hundred  men-at-arms,  with 
whom  the  duke  marched  against  Paris.  He  re-entered  there 
in  force  on  the  23d,  and  drove  out  the  Armagnacs,  who  had 
already  begun  to  make  themselves  detested.  John  the  Fearless 
followed  up  his  advantages,  and  hoped  to  crush  his  enemies  ; 
but  they,  in  their  turn,  had  negotiated  with  the  King  of 
England,  promising  to  recognize  him  as  Duke  of  Aquitaine, 
and  to  assure  to  him,  after  the  death  of  the  present  possessors, 


376  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XII. 

the  counties  of  Poitou  and  Angouleme.  As  the  price  of 
these  concessions,  the  English  army  was  preparing  to  invade 
France,  under  the  orders  of  the  third  son  of  the  king,  the 
Duke  of  Clarence,  when  the  Duke  of  Berry,  uncle  of  Charles 
VI.,  filled  with  horror  at  the  prospect  of  the  evils  which 
the  foreigners  were  about  to  bring  down  upon  France,  once 
more  interposed  between  the  belligerents,  and  effected  one 
of  those  reconciliations  which  prepared  the  way  for  fresh  acts 
of  perfidy.  The  Dukes  of  Orleans  and  Burgundy  entered 
Paris  mounted  upon  the  same  horse,  and  repaired  thus  to 
church.  The  people  cried  "Noel!"  and  thanked  God  for 
this  hope  of  peace.  But  the  Duke  of  Clarence  had  landed 
in  Normandy ;  the  news  of  the  pacification  had  been  power 
less  to  arrest  him.  Maine  and  Anjou  had  already  been 
ravaged.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  contrived  to  purchase  the 
retreat  of  the  allies  whom  he  himself  had  summoned :  the 
English,  laden  with  gold  and  booty,  took  the  road  to  Gui- 
enne,  traversing  France  without  any  obstacle.  "  We  will 
return  hither,"  they  said  as  they  passed,  "  to  fight  with  our 
King  Henry."  Eight  thousand  Englishmen  embarked  at  Bor 
deaux  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1412. 

King  Henry  had  nearly  arrived  at  the  end  of  his  career. 
He  was  ill  and  sad.  His  throne  had  always  appeared  to 
him  to  be  tottering ;  conspiracies  had  been  so  often  repeated 
around  him,  that  he  had  ended  by  suspecting  them  where 
they  did  not  exist.  A  keen  jealousy  towards  his  eldest  son 
troubled  him.  The  Prince  of  Wales  had  given  proofs  of 
rare  courage ;  when  yet  young,  he  had  been  wounded  at 
the  battle  of  Shrewsbury ;  being  afterwards  despatched  by 
his  father  into  Wales,  he  had  there  constantly  held  in  check 
Owen  Glendwyr,  over  whom  he  had  finally  triumphed.  It 
is  related  —  and,  in  his  admirable  tragedy  of  Henry  IV., 
Shakspeare  made  use  of  these  accounts,  of  which  the  authen- 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  377 

ticity  is  not  well  proved  —  that  the  young  prince,  besides 
his  budding  greatness,  had  given  other  causes  for  anxiety  to 
his  father :  it  is  said  that  his  debauches  and  coarse  amuse 
ments  had  caused  alarm  for  the  fate  of  the  State  which  he 
was  one  day  to  govern,  so  that  a  judge  before  whom  he 
had  been  brought,  although  knowing  him,  thought  it  his 
duty  to  condemn  him  like  a  simple  private  person.  Perhaps 
the  jealousy  of  the  father  and  the  restraint  which  he  claimed 
to  impose  upon  the  son,  to  whom  he  left  neither  power  nor 
resources,  had  contributed  to  plunge  a  sanguine,  energetic 
young  man,  full  of  life  and  strength,  into  those  excesses  with 
which  he  was  reproached.  It  is  affirmed  that  the  king  had 
one  day  swooned,  in  consequence  of  one  of  the  attacks  of 
his  distemper  ;  he  was  believed  to  be  dead.  The  Prince  of 
Wales,  entering  the  apartment,  had  carried  off  the  crown 
which  lay  upon  a  cushion.  When  Henry  IV.  came  to 
himself  again,  he  asked  for  the  crown.  The  prince  was 
sent  for.  "  You  have  no  right  to  it,"  cried  the  king.  "  You 
know  that  your  father  had  none."  "  Your  sword  gave  it 
to  you,  sire,  and  my  sword  will  be  able  to  defend  it,"  replied 
the  prince,  exonerating  himself  as  well  as  he  could  against 
the  suspicions  of  his  father.  He  demanded  the  punishment 
of  those  who  accused  him  of  prematurely  claiming  the  throne, 
and  the  king  referred  him  to  the  next  session  of  the  Parlia 
ment.  He  was  weary  of  reigning  and  of  living.  "  You  shall 
do  as  you  please,"  he  said ;  "  1  have  done  with  all  these 
matters.  May  the  Lord  have  mercy  upon  my  soul ! "  But 
the  young  Prince  Henry  suffered  in  mind  from  the  alienation 
of  his  father ;  he  presented  himself  before  him  clad  in  a 
blue  satin  robe,  covered  with  button-holes,  a  tag  still  hanging 
from  each  opening,  and,  in  this  strange  costume,  he  threw 
himself  at  the  feet  of  the  king,  drew  a  dagger  from  his 
bosom,  and  begged  him  to  take  his  life  if  he  had  deprived 
VOL.  I.  48 


378  '    POPULAR  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.      [CHAP.  XIL 

him  of  his  favor.     The   father  and  son  became  reconciled,  it 
is  said,  after  this  scene. 

The  torments  of  jealousy,  added  to  the  troubles  of  his 
conscience  and  the  cares  of  power,  overwhelmed  the  monarch. 
He  was  not  yet  forty-seven  years  of  age,  and  the  proud 
Bolingbroke,  formerly  so  handsome,  so  bold,  so  adventurous, 
was  bowed  down  like  an  old  man.  He  was  praying,  on 
the  20th  of  March,  1413,  before  the  shrine  of  Edward  the 
Confessor^in  Westminster  Abbey,  when  he  fell  into  a  swoon. 
He  was  carried  into  the  apartment  of  the  abbot,  and  as  he 
recovered  his  senses,  he  asked  where  he  was.  "  In  the 
Jerusalem  Chamber,"  was  the  reply  ;  for  such  was  the  name 
of  the  chamber  to  which  he  had  been  carried.  He  closed 
his  eyes.  "  I  was  always  told  that  I  should  die  at  Jerusa 
lem,"  he  muttered,  and  he  expired.  He  was  interred  in 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  beside  his  first  wife,  Lady  Mary  de 
Bohun,  the  mother  of  all  his  children.  His  second  wife, 
Queen  Joan  of  Navarre,  had  not  presented  any  to  him. 

Ambitious  and  inflexible,  harsh  towards  his  enemies,  skilful 
and  cunning  as  well  as  enterprising,  Henry  IV.  had  always 
continued  to  treat  the  Parliament  with  respect,  and  had 
never  made  any  attempt  against  its  authority.  The  House 
of  Commons,  especially,  had  seen  its  privileges  confirmed 
under  his  reign,  and  its  influence  had  been  constantly  grow 
ing.  Thus  the  liberties  of  England,  formerly  conquered  by 
the  barons  at  the  price  of  so  much  bloodshed,  were  gradually 
developing,  profiting  by  the  weakness  as  well  as  the  temerity 
of  the  sovereigns,  until  the  day  when  the  religious  reform 
was  to  raise  them  to  their  highest  pitch. 

Absorbed  in  the  internal  struggles  consequent  upon  Usur 
pation,  for  ever  dreading  real  or  supposed  conspiracies,  Henry 
IV.  had  not  had  leisure  to  think  of  foreign  wars.  The 
wish,  however,  had  not  been  wanting ;  he  had  everywhere 


PRINCE   HENRY   OFFERS   HIS   LIFE   TO   HIS   FATHER. 


THE   BODY   OF   RICHARD   II.    INTERRED   AT   WESTMINSTER. 


CHAP.  XII.]  BOLINGBROKE.  379 

plunged  himself  into  the  intrigues  and  divisions  which  deso 
lated  France  under  the  unhappy  Charles  VI.,  and  he  had 
thus  prepared  the  return  of  the  great  English  ambitions, 
which  were  destined,  for  a  while,  to  raise  so  high  the  glory 
of  Henry  V.,  his  son,  at  the  price  of  so  much  bloodshed 
and  so  many  sorrows  for  the  two  nations. 


380  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

HENRY  V.     1413-1422. 

HENRY  of  Monmouth  ascended  the  throne  under  happy 
auspices.  His  father  had  expended  the  popularity 
which  in  the  first  place  had  carried  him  into  power,  and  had 
lived  amid  the  anxieties  and  cares  of  usurpation ;  but  the 
work  was  accomplished,  and  his  son  felt  his  authority  so  well 
established,  that  the  first  acts  of  his  reign  bear  testimony  to 
a  generous  disdain  towards  conspiracies  and  rivals.  The  body 
of  King  Richard  II.  was  carried  away  from  the  convent  of 
Langley,  and  solemnly  brought  back  to  Westminster,  to  be 
interred  there  beside  his  wife,  Anne  of  Bohemia,  as  the  un 
happy  monarch  had  wished  during  his  lifetime.  The  king 
himself  was  the  chief  mourner.  The  young  Edmund,  Earl  of 
March,  was  restored  to  liberty,  and  the  son  of  Hotspur  Percy 
was  recalled  from  the  long  exile  which  retained  him  in  Scot 
land.  Everywhere  the  former  adversaries  of  Henry  IV.,  exiled 
or  punished  through  his  fear  and  prudence,  experienced  the 
clemency  of  the  young  king,  who  contrived  to  gain  the  affec 
tion  of  the  greater  number  of  them,  by  the  firmness  and  energy 
of  character  which  were  united  in  him  with  generosity. 

Recovered  from  any  follies  and  excesses  which  may  have 
sullied  his  youth,  Henry  V.,  when  he  ascended  the  throne, 
showed  himself  from  the  first  to  be  austere  in  his  life  and  in 
his  morals,  resolved  to  fear  God,  and  to  cause  his  laws  to  be 
respected.  He  was  not  in  favor  of  the  religious  movement 
which  was  being  propagated  in  his  kingdom,  particularly 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY   V.  381 

among  the  lower  classes  of  society.  The  doctrines  and  the 
preaching  of  Wickliffe,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scrip 
tures  which  he  had  begun  to  diffuse,  had  borne  much  good 
fruit ;  but  the  disciples  had,  upon  several  points,  swerved  from 
the  teaching  of  their  master,  and  from  free  investigation  had 
sprung  up  many  dangerous  errors  as  well  as  the  most  sacred 
truths.  The  people  designated  the  reformers  under  the  name 
of  "  Lollards,"  a  word,  the  origin  of  which  is  not  exactly 
known,  but  which  very  possibly  came  from  the  German  her 
etic,  Walter  Lolhard,  burned  at  Cologne  in  1322.  Already, 
under  Henry  IV.,  the  secular  arm  had  descended  heavily  upon 
the  partisans  of  the  new  ideas.  A  priest,  formerly  rector  of 
Lynn,  in  Norfolk,  and  who  had  for  a  while  abjured  his  opin 
ions,  had  asked  to  be  heard  by  the  Parliament,  before  which 
he  had  frankly  expounded  the  doctrines  which  he  had  been 
compelled  to  abandon.  Being  declared  for  this  deed  a  heretic 
and  a  relapser,  Sacoytre  had  been  burned  at  Smithfield  in  the 
month  of  March,  1401,  presenting  for  the  first  time  to  the 
English  people  the  terrible  spectacle  of  a  man  put  to  death 
for  his  opinions.  A  tailor,  named  John  Batby,  suffered  the 
same  punishment  in  1410.  But  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  V.,  the  anger  and  uneasiness  of  the  Church  were 
directed  against  a  personage  better  known,  and  of  higher 
rank.  The  Lollards  had  become  sufficiently  numerous  to  have 
attributed  to  them  a  declaration,  placarded  by  night  in  Lon 
don,  announcing  that  a  hundred  thousand  men  were  ready  to 
defend  their  rights  by  arms.  All  regarded  as  their  chief  Sir 
John  Oldcastle,  generally  called  Lord  Cobham,  by  the  right 
of  his  wife.  He  was  a  good  soldier,  and  the  friend  of  Henry 
V.  in  his  youth.  When  Arundel,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
came  to  accuse  Lord  Cobham  before  the  king,  the  latter  could 
not  decide  to  deliver  him  up  upon  the  spot  to  the  Church, 
and  he  promised  to  labor  himself  to  reclaim  him ;  but  the 


382  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

king's  powers  of  controversy  miscarried  before  the  convictions 
of  Lord  Cobham.  The  monarch  became  angry,  and  as  his 
old  friend  had  taken  refuge  in  his  manor  of  Cowling,  in  Kent, 
Henry  abandoned  him  to  the  archbishop.  For  some  time  the 
clever  soldier  contrived  to  prevent  the  delivery  of  the  arrest 
warrant,  but  a  body  of  troops  sent  by  the  king  having  sur 
rounded  the  castle,  Oldcastle  surrendered,  and  was  conducted 
to  the  Tower.  For  two  days  he  defended  himself  unaided 
against  all  the  clergy  assembled  ;  he  was  then  condemned  to 
the  stake  ;  but  the  king,  who  still  retained  some  affection  for 
him,  obtained  a  respite,  during  which  Sir  John  contrived  to 
escape  from  the  Tower.  He  no  longer  hoped  to  live  in  peace ; 
perhaps  he  reckoned  upon  the  devotion  of  his  brethren.  It  is 
related  that  he  assembled  a  considerable  number  of  Lollards, 
and  that  he  made  an  attempt  to  surprise  the  king ;  having 
failed  in  his  design,  he  had  convoked  his  partisans  in  the 
fields  of  St.  Giles,  near  London,  on  the  morrow  of  the  Epiph 
any.  The  king  was  forewarned  of  the  conspiracy  and  repaired 
thither.  Sir  John  was  not  there  ;  a  hundred  men  at  the 
utmost  had  assembled  in  the  meadow  ;  they  carried  arms,  and 
confessed  that  they  were  waiting  for  Oldcastle.  Two  or  three 
other  little  assemblages  were  also  captured,  and  on  the  13th 
of  January,  thirty  Lollards  suffered  at  St.  Giles's  the  punish 
ment  of  traitors.  The  Parliament  was  agitated,  and  the  State 
was  believed  to  be  in  danger ;  the  judges  and  magistrates 
were  authorized  to  arrest  every  individual  suspected  of  heresy, 
and  made  oath  to  prosecute  the  guilty  in  all  parts.  Death 
and  confiscation  were  decreed  against  them.  Sir  Roger  Acton, 
a  friend  of  Oldcastle,  was  arrested,  hanged  and  quartered  on 
the  10th  of  February.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Arun- 
del,  died  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month ;  but  his  successor, 
Chicheley,  was  no  less  ardent  than  he  against  heresy,  and  it 
was  at  his  request  and  at  his  suit  that  Sir  John  Oldcastle, 


CHAP.  XIIL]  HENRY    V.  383 

Lord  Cobham,  after  having  for  a  long  while  remained  con 
cealed,  was  rearrested  in  1417,  and  burned  at  a  slow  fire  in 
the  meadow  of  St.  Giles,  on  the  25th  of  December  fol 
lowing. 

The  terror  which  the  Lollards  had  caused  was  beginning 
to  subside.  The  king  had  had  leisure  to  reflect  upon  the  sad 
condition  of  France  ;  the  weakness  in  which  it  was  plunged 
reminded  him  of  the  counsels  of  his  dying  father.  It  is  said 
that  Henry  IV.  had  advised  his  son  to  engage  his  country  in 
a  great  war,  to  divert  it  from  conspiracies.  The  ardor  of  the 
young  king  had  become  inflamed  at  this  idea,  and  he  had  come 
to  look  upon  himself  as  the  messenger  of  God,  sent  to  punish 
the  crimes  of  the  French  princes,  and  to  deliver  from  their 
hands  the  kingdom  which  they  were  oppressing.  In  the  month 
of  July,  1414,  he  suddenly  laid  claim  to  the  crown  of  France, 
as  the  descendant  of  Isabel,  the  daughter  of  Philip  the  Fair. 
This  pretension,  groundless  on  the  part  of  Edward  III.,  be 
came  absurd  in  the  mouth  of  Henry  V.,  because  the  right  of 
succession,  if  transmissible  by  females,  belonged  to  the  Earl 
of  March.  The  Duke  of  Berry,  then  in  power,  peremptorily 
repelled  the  demand  of  King  Henry,  who  thereupon  proclaimed 
other  pretensions.  He  consented  to  leave  the  throne  to  King 
Charles,  but  he  claimed  for  England  the  absolute  sovereignty 
of  Normandy,  Anjou,  Maine,  and  Aquitaine,  besides  the  towns 
and  territories  ceded  in  other  parts  of  France  by  the  treaty 
of  Br^tigny.  He  claimed  at  the  same  time  one  half  of  Provence, 
the  inheritance  of  Eleanor  and  Sanche,  the  wives  of  Henry 
III.,  and  of  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Cornwall ;  and  the  fifteen 
hundred  thousand  crowns  remaining  to  be  paid  upon  the  ran 
som  of  King  John  ;  finally,  he  formally  demanded  the  hand 
of  the  Princess  Catherine,  the  daughter  of  King  Charles  VI., 
with  a  dowry  of  two  millions  of  crowns.  In  reply  to  these 
exorbitant  demands,  the  Duke  of  Berry  proposed  to  surrender 


384  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

Aquitaine  to  the  King  of  England,  and  to  give  him  the  Prin 
cess  Catherine,  with  a  dowry  of  six  hundred  thousand  crowns. 
Never  had  a  daughter  of  France  brought  so  large  a  dowry  to 
her  husband,  and  the  payment  of  it  would  probably  have  been 
difficult  in  the  state  of  poverty  which  the  country  was  in. 
King  Henry  thereupon  recalled  his  ambassadors,  convoked  the 
Parliament,  and,  having  obtained  large  subsidies,  he  sent  a 
second  mission  to  the  court  of  France.  The  Earl  of  Dorset 
entered  Paris  with  a  magnificent  retinue.  He  proposed  a 
prolongation  of  the  truce  for  four  months,  and  consented  to 
receive  the  princess  with  a  dowry  of  one  million  of  crowns 
only.  Henry  had,  besides,  renounced  his  pretensions  to  Maine, 
Anjou,  and  Normandy.  The  answer  was  the  same,  but  two 
hundred  thousand  crowns  were  added  to  the  dowry  of  Cath 
erine.  The  ambassadors  returned  to  England  in  March, 
1415  ;  the  preparations  for  war  immediately  commenced. 

The  situation  of  France  was  more  than  ever  deplorable.  The 
Armagnacs  and  the  Burgundians  were  contending  with  each 
other  for  the  power,  and  a  third  competitor  had  entered  the 
lists ;  the  Dauphin,  Louis,  the  eldest  son  of  the  unhappy  Charles 
VI.,  arrived  at  manhood,  and,  supported  by  his  uncle,  the  Duke 
of  Berry,  endeavored  to  seize  the  reins  of  government.  Dis 
solute  and  unmannerly,  as  profligate  and  as  cruel  as  his  adver 
saries,  he  sometimes  made  use  of  the  king's  name,  at  others, 
declared  him  incapable  of  directing  his  affairs,  and  plotted 
to  drive  out  the  Armagnacs  or  the  Burgundians.  Blood  flowed 
in  all  parts,  and  the  unhappy  populations  of  the  towns  and 
the  country,  exhausted  by  taxes  and  exactions,  sighed  after 
each  abuse  of  a  new  master :  "  What  worse  could  the  Eng 
lish  do  than  that  from  which  we  suffer  ?  " 

While  the  French  nation,  overwhelmed  by  its  misfortunes, 
lost  even  the  wish  of  defending  itself  against  foreigners,  King 
Henry  had  summoned  a  council  of  the  Lords  at  Westminster. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY    V.  385 

In  the  last  Parliament,  his  uncle,  Beaufort,  Bishop  of  Win 
chester  and  Chancellor  of  England,  had  delivered  a  great  speech 
upon  this  text :  "  While  we  have  time,  let  us  do  every  good 
work."  The  king  announced  to  his  councillors  that  he  had 
resolved  to  put  his  hand  to  the  task,  and  to  recover  his  in 
heritance.  All  the  prelates  and  barons  approved  of  his  inten 
tions,  and  his  brother  John,  Duke  of  Bedford,  was  appointed 
Regent  of  England  in  his  absence.  The  conditions  of  military 
service  were  determined.  The  king  undertook  to  make  a  reg 
ular  payment,  curiously  graduated  according  to  the  rank  of 
those  who  followed  him :  a  duke  was  to  receive  every  day 
thirteen  shillings  and  fourpence ;  an  earl,  six  shillings  and 
eightpence  ;  a  baron,  four  shillings ;  a  knight,  two  shillings ; 
an  esquire,  one  shilling,  and  an  archer  sixpence.  All  were 
to  bring  a  certain  number  of  horses,  which  the  king  undertook 
to  equip.  Henry  had  pawned  his  jewels,  contracted  loans, 
and  he  had  collected  a  very  considerable  sum  of  money,  when 
he  marched  forth  in  the  month  of  July,  to  embark  at  South 
ampton. 

At  Winchester,  the  king  encountered  the  Archbishop  of 
Bourges,  sent  by  the  Duke  of  Berry,  in  the  frivolous  hope  of 
appeasing  the  storm  which  threatened  France.  "  I  have  a 
right  to  the  crown,"  said  Henry,  "  and  I  will  conquer  it  with 
my  sword."  In  vain  did  the  archbishop  invoke  the  help  of 
God,  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  of  the  saints,  who  would  defend 
the  just  cause  of  King  Charles ;  in  vain,  exasperated  by  the 
disdain  of  the  English,  did  he  exclaim  that  the  king  had  only 
made  such  liberal  offers  for  love  of  peace,  and  that  King  Henry 
would  soon  find  himself  repulsed  as  far  as  the  sea,  if  he  should 
not  be  killed  or  made  prisoner  ;  Henry  contented  himself  with 
smiling.  "  We  shall  see  shortly,"  said  he ;  and  loading  the 
prelate  and  his  retinue  with  presents,  he  sent  him  back  with 
no  other  reply. 

VOL.  i.  49 


POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

The  embarkation  of  the  troops  had  already  commenced, 
when  the  king  was  suddenly  warned  of  a  plot  hatched  against 
his  life.  One  of  his  friends,  Lord  Scroop  of  Masham,  in  whom 
the  king  reposed  such  confidence  that  he  always  made  him 
sleep  in  his  own  chamber,  and  Sir  Thomas  Grey  Heton,  had 
made  an  agreement  with  the  Earl  of  Cambridge,  the  brother 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  as  treacherous  as  he.  The  king 
dead,  the  young  Earl  of  March  was  to  replace  him  upon  the 
throne.  The  three  conspirators  had  suffered  the  penalty  of 
their  crime,  when  Henry  at  length  set  sail  for  France,  on 
the  13th  of  August,  1415. 

The  fleet  entered  the  Seine  on  the  morning  of  the  14th 
of  August,  and  thirty  thousand  men,  which  it  carried,  landed 
within  a  league  of  Harfleur.  The  spot  was  ill  chosen  for 
the  landing,  and  the  defence  would  have  been  easy ;  but 
no  obstacle  presented  itself  to  impede  the  operations  of  the 
English,  and,  on  the  17th,  King  Henry  laid  siege  to  Harfleur. 
The  town  was  strong  and  well  defended  by  the  Sire  d'Estoute- 
ville ;  sickness  was  beginning  to  ravage  the  English  army ; 
several  barons  of  consequence  were  dead,  as  well  as  a  large 
number  of  soldiers ;  but  the  besieged  suffered  also,  and  the 
governor  in  vain  asked  for  assistance. 

The  Sire  d'Estouteville  formed  his  resolution ;  he  issued 
secretly  out  of  the  town  and  repaired  in  person  to  Rouen, 
where  the  French  forces  were  beginning  to  assemble.  But 
confusion  and  disorder  reigned  there ;  no  one  thought  of 
delivering  Harfleur.  The  brave  governor  returned,  re-entered 
the  town,  and  surrendered  it  on  the  22d  of  September,  after  a 
siege  which  had  lasted  thirty-six  days.  King  Henry  installed 
a  garrison  there  ;  he  embarked  his  sick  and  wounded  soldiers, 
whom  he  sent  back  to  England;  and  when  he  took  account 
of  his  army  thus  diminished,  nine  thousand  men  at  the  utmost 
remained  under  his  banners.  His  supporters  hesitated  to 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY    V.  387 

advance  into  France.  Henry  had  sent  to  the  Dauphin  a  chal 
lenge  to  single  combat ;  but  Louis  had  not  even  replied.  The 
king  silenced  the  timid  counsels.  "  No,"  said  he ;  "  with 
the  help  of  God,  we  must  first  see  a  little  more  of  this  good 
soil  of  France,  which  all  belongs  to  us.  We  will  go,  with 
God's  help,  without  hurt  or  danger ;  but  if  we  should  be 
interfered  with,  we  will  fight,  and  the  victory  will  be  ours." 
Reassuring  his  men  thus,  the  King  of  England  set  out  on 
his  way  to  Calais,  on  the  6th  of  October.  The  army  at 
Rouen,  under  the  orders  of  the  king  and  the  Dauphin,  did 
not  stir ;  but  that  of  the  Constable  had  preceded  the  Eng 
lish  in  Picardy,  and  every  day  troops  passed  by  to  go  and 
join  him.  Watched  by  some  detachments  larger  than  his 
entire  army,  Henry  traversed  Normandy  without  any  obstacle ; 
near  Dieppe,  however,  he  was  attacked  by  the  garrison  of 
Eu,  but  the  enemy  was  thrown  back  in  disorder.  Like 
Edward  III.,  Henry  found  himself  stopped  by  the  river 
Somme,  and  could  not  discover  a  ford  ;  Blanche-Tache  was 
guarded ;  the  great  number  of  the  passages  were  furnished 
with  stakes.  The  soldiers  were  beginning  to  murmur,  when, 
on  the  19th  of  October,  a  passage  was  found  between  Bethen- 
court  and  Vogenme,  and  the  English  army  crossed  the  Somme 
without  impediment.  The  Constable  had  established  himself 
at  Abbeville  ;  the  military  council  assembled  at  Rouen  decided 
that  battle  should  be  given.  The  immense  superiority  of 
the  French  army  had  caused  the  wise  usages  of  King  Charles 
V.  to  be  forgotten. 

On  the  20th  of  October,  three  French  heralds  presented 
themselves  at  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  and  the  Duke  of 
York  conducted  them  to  the  king.  "  Sire,"  they  said, 
bending  their  knee  before  him,  "  my  masters,  the  Dukes  of 
Orleans  and  Bourbon,  and  my  lord  the  Constable,  inform 
you  that  they  intend  to  give  battle  to  you."  "  God's  will 


388  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

be  done,"  replied  the  king  without  emotion.  "  And  by  which 
road  do  you  intend  to  proceed  ?  "  resumed  the  heralds,  who 
had  noticed  with  amazement  the  small  number  of  English 
tents,  and  the  weary  appearance  of  the  soldiers.  "  That 
of  Calais,  straight  along,"  replied  Henry.  "  If  my  enemies 
wish  to  stop  me,  it  will  be  at  their  peril.  I  do  not  seek 
them,  but  I  will  proceed  neither  faster  nor  more  slowly  to 
avoid  them."  And  breaking  camp  on  the  morrow,  Henry 
indeed  continued  his  march,  as  though  death  or  defeat 
could  not  lie  hidden  behind  each  hill,  or  await  him  in  the 
neighboring  plains.  On  the  24th  he  had  crossed  the  river 
of  Ternois,  when  he  perceived  the  first  columns  of  the 
enemy.  He  immediately  formed  his  troops  into  battle-order ; 
but  the  Constable  had  fallen  back  upon  Agincourt,  and  the 
King  of  England  took  up  his  quarters  in  the  village  of  Mai- 
soncelles.  The  royal  standard  of  France  was  planted  on  the 
road  to  Calais  ;  death  or  victory  was  imperative. 

King  Henry  had  sent  his  marshals  to  reconnoitre  the  posi 
tion  of  the  French.  They  brought  back  alarming  particulars 
as  to  their  strength,  and  the  number  of  pennants  and  banners 
spread  out  in  the  wind ;  the  soldiers  were  laughing  around 
their  fires,  and  the  spies  heard  them  calculating  the  ransom 
of  the  English  barons.  The  veteran  knights  alone  appeared 
less  joyful ;  the  Duke  of  Berry,  who,  when  quite  a  child, 
had  fought  at  Poitiers,  had  opposed  with  all  his  might  the 
project  of  giving  battle.  He  had  succeeded  in  preventing 
the  arrival  of  the  king.  "It  is  better,"  he  said,  remember 
ing  the  captivity  of  his  father,  King  John,  "  to  lose  the 
battle  than  to  lose  both  the  king  and  the  battle."  The 
English  trumpets  sounded  throughout  the  night ;  but  the 
soldiers  had  confessed,  many  of  them  had  made  their  wills ; 
they  appreciated  all  the  danger  that  threatened  them. 

At  daybreak,  on   the   25th  of  October,  the  king  attended 


THE  FRENCH  CHIVALRY  THE  NIGHT  BEFORE  THE  BATTLE  OF  AGINCOURT. 


CHAP.  XIIL]  HENRY  V.  389 

mass.  Three  altars  had  been  erected  in  the  camp,  in  order 
that  the  soldiers  might  all  be  present  at  divine  worship. 
The  English  were  composed  of  three  divisions ;  two  detach 
ments  were  stationed  at  the  wings.  The  archers,  placed  in 
the  form  of  a  wedge  in  front  of  the  men-at-arms,  drove  into 
the  ground  long  stakes,  intended  to  protect  them  against 
the  charge  of  the  cavalry;  for  the  first  time,  the  points  of 
the  stakes  were  tipped  with  iron.  The  baggage,  the  priests, 
and  the  greater  number  of  the  horses,  had  remained  in  the 
rear-guard,  near  Maisoncelles.  The  king  rode  slowly  along 
the  lines  upon  his  little  gray  horse ;  the  crown  which  sur 
mounted  his  helmet  sparkled  in  the  rays  of  the  sun,  but  the 
youthful  and  handsome  countenance  of  the  young  sovereign 
above  all  attracted  the  attention  of  his  soldiers.  "  My  course 
is  taken,"  he  said,  "  to  conquer  or  die  here.  Never  shall 
England  pay  a  ransom  for  me.  Remember  Soissons,*  my 
archers ;  the  French  have  sworn  to  cut  off  three  fingers  from 
the  right  hand  of  every  one  of  you,  so  that  you  may  never 
be  able  to  shoot  an  arrow  again  in  your  lives.  We  have 
not  come  to  our  kingdom  of  France  like  enemies ;  we  have 
not  sacked  the  towns  and  insulted  the  women ;  they  are 
full  of  sin  and  have  not  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes." 
A  gallant  warrior,  Walter  Hungerford,  said  aloud,  as  the 
king  passed  by,  that  he  would  like  to  see  at  his  side  a  few 
of  the  good  knights  who  remained  idle  in  England.  "  No," 
cried  Henry,  "  I  would  not  have  here  one  man  more.  If  God 
give  us  the  victory,  the  fewer  we  are,  the  greater  will  be 
the  honor ;  if  we  fail,  the  country  will  be  less  unhappy." 
And  he  smiled,  like  a  man  certain  of  victory. 

The  French  did  not  make  an  attack.     By  the  advice  of  the 
old  Duke  of  Berry,  they  had  resolved  to  await  the  onslaught, 

*  Two  hundred  English    archers,   prisoners   of  war,    had  been  hanged  at 
Soissons. 


390  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XHI. 

and  they  had  seated  themselves  upon  the  ground,  like  the 
English  at  Crecy.  Henry  had  reckoned  upon  the  confusion 
and  disorder  which  every  movement  would  bring  upon  this 
compact  and  confused  mass,  where  each  knight  obeyed  his 
liege  lord,  without  concerning  himself  about  the  general 
direction,  and  he  hesitated  to  make  an  attack.  The  Constable 
wished  to  wait  for  the  Duke  of  Brittany,  who  was  to  bring 
fresh  reinforcements  to  him ;  and,  seeing  that  the  English 
remained  stationary,  he  dispatched  Messire  Guichard  Dauphin 
to  King  Henry,  to  offer  him  a  free  passage,  if  he  would 
surrender  Harfleur  and  renounce  his  pretensions  to  the  crown 
of  France.  Henry  refused  without  hesitation ;  he  was  will 
ing  to  negotiate,  he  said,  upon  the  conditions  which  he  had 
offered  from  London.  They  could  delay  no  longer ;  the 
English  army  was  destitute  of  victuals.  The  king  gave 
orders  to  his  two  detachments  to  creep,  one  to  the  left  and 
the  other  to  the  rear  of  the  French  army ;  he  then  in  a 
ringing  voice  cried,  "  Advance,  banners ! "  It  was  mid 
day.  Sir  Thomas  Erpingham,  the  venerable  commander  of 
the  archers,  threw  into  the  air  his  white  staff,  saying, 
"  Shoot."  The  English  had  advanced  within  bowshot ;  they 
planted  their  stakes,  and,  uttering  their  battle-cries,  began 
to  shoot.  Their  comrades,  hidden  upon  the  left  flank  of 
the  French,  answered  them  with  cries  and  with  arrows. 
Messire  Clignet  de  Brabant  charged  at  the  archers,  crying, 
"  Montjoie  !  Saint  Denis  !  "  The  ground  was  soft  and  moist 
with  the  rain ;  the  horses  slipped  and  fell ;  the  horsemen 
were  wounded  by  the  arrows,  and  their  lances  could  not 
reach,  behind  the  ramparts  of  stakes,  the  bare  breasts  of 
the  archers,  who  had  nearly  all  thrown  off  a  portion  of  their 
clothing,  to  fight  more  at  their  ease.  The  Brabantines  were 
compelled  to  retire  in  disorder,  breaking  up  at  their  rear 
the  advancing  ranks.  The  mass  was  so  confused  and  the 


HENRY   V.    REVIEWING   HIS   TROOPS. 


CHAP.  XIIL]  HENRY   V.  391 

ranks  so  serried,  that  neither  horses  nor  men  had  room  to 
move.  The  English  archers  had  drawn  their  stakes,  and, 
having  discontinued  shooting,  charged  mallet  and  battle-axe  in 
hand.  The  French  cavalry  had  made  a  side  movement ;  the 
horses  sank  into  the  freshly  ploughed  soil ;  the  cavalry,  heavily 
armed,  had  difficulty  in  dismounting,  while  their  enemies  ran 
lightly  upon  the  yielding  ground.  The  Constable  had  been 
slain ;  the  Duke  Anthony  of  Brabant  succumbed  beneath  a 
battle-axe  at  the  moment  when  the  second  French  division 
attacked  the  English  men-at-arms,  who  were  advancing  in 
their  turn.  The  struggle  then  began  between  the  cavalry. 
The  Duke  of  Clarence  had  been  overthrown  ;  Henry,  stand 
ing  before  his  body,  defended  him  single-handed.  Eighteen 
knights,  bearing  the  banner  of  the  Count  of  Croy,  attacked 
him  at  the  same  moment  ;  they  had  sworn  to  capture  the 
King  of  England  dead  or  alive.  A  blow  from  a  battle-axe 
caused  Henry  to  fall  upon  his  knees ;  he  was  about  to  perish, 
but  his  knights  had  rejoined  him ;  the  king  rose,  and  the 
eighteen  assailants  were  killed.  The  Duke  of  Alengon,  sword 
in  hand,  had  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  standard  of  Eng 
land  ;  he  had  overthrown  the  Duke  of  York.  King  Henry 
defended  his  treacherous  relative,  and  the  battle-axe  of  the 
French  prince  smashed  a  half  of  the  crown  which  surmounted 
his  helmet.  At  the  same  moment  the  duke  was  surrounded. 
"  I  surrender,"  he  cried.  "  I  am  the  Duke  of  Alencjon." 
But  already  the  blows  of  the  English  had  stretched  him 
upon  the  ground ;  when  King  Henry  would  have  received  his 
gage,  he  was  dead.  The  French  troops  faltered ;  the  chiefs 
were  either  captured  or  slain.  The  third  division  began  to 
fly  ;  the  ground  gave  under  their  feet ;  the  horses  sank  into 
the  mud.  A  great  tumult  arose  in  the  rear  of  the  English. 
The  third  division  of  the  enemy  began  to  rally ;  the  Duke  of 
Brittany  was  hourly  expected  with  numerous  reinforcements : 


392  POPULAR   HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIIL 

King  Henry  gave  orders  to  kill  the  prisoners  with  whom  each 
Englishman  was  incumbered  ;  the  greatest  names  of  France 
were  falling  beneath  the  dagger.  But  the  alarm  subsided ; 
the  peasants  who  had  made  a  raid  upon  the  baggage  had 
been  repulsed,  the  French  cavalry  had  resumed  their  gallop ; 
the  King  of  England  arrested  the  slaughter,  and  gave  orders 
to  raise  the  wounded.  The  day  was  ended ;  the  king  rode 
over  the  field  of  battle  with  his  barons ;  the  heralds  examined 
the  arms  of  the  dead  knights.  Henry  encountered  Montjoie, 
the  French  king-at-arms,  who  had  been  made  a  prisoner. 
u  This  butchery  is  not  of  our  doing,"  he  said,  "  but  of  the 
Almighty,  who  wished  to  punish  the  sins  of  France.  To 
whom  falls  the  honor  of  the  victory  ?  "  "  To  the  King  of 
England,"  gravely  replied  Montjoie.  "  What  is  the  name 
of  this  castle?"  resumed  the  king.  "  Agincourt."  "  The 
day's  work  shall  then  be  called  the  battle  of  Agincourt," 
said  Henry,  and  he  resumed  his  march  amid  the  dead  and  the 
dying.  Eight  thousand  gentlemen  had  fallen  upon  the  field 
of  battle,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  twenty  were  great 
noblemen  bearing  banners.  The  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  Count 
of  Richemont,  Marshal  Boucicault,  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  the 
Counts  of  Eu  and  VendSme,  were  prisoners.  Among  the 
English,  the  Earl  of  Suffolk  and  the  Duke  of  York  had  been 
killed. 

The  king  retook  the  road  to  Calais ;  the  young  Count  of 
Charolais,  the  son  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  whom  his  father 
had  forbidden  to  take  part  in  the  combat,  had  performed  the 
last  duties  towards  his  uncles,  the  Duke  of  Brabant  and  the 
Count  of  Nevers.  At  the  same  time  he  caused  to  be  interred, 
at  his  own  expense,  all  those  whose  friends  had  not  come 
to  take  away  their  bodies.  Nearly  six  thousand  men  were 
deposited  in  the  cemetery  improvised  upon  the  field  of  battle, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Guines  performed  the  last  prayers  there. 


CHAP.  XIIL]  HENRY   V.  393 

The  King  of  England  had  merely  passed  through  Calais, 
and  had  returned  into  his  kingdom,  laden  with  booty,  amid 
the  cries  of  joy  of  his  subjects,  who  had  thrown  themselves 
into  the  sea  on  his  arrival,  and  had  borne  him  to  land  upon 
their  shoulders.  In  its  gratitude,  the  Parliament  had  granted 
to  him,  for  his  lifetime,  the  subsidy  upon  wools  and  leathers, 
which  it  had  formerly  so  bitterly  regretted  presenting  to  King 
Richard.  Henry  V.  was  too  much  occupied  by  his  foreign 
ventures,  and  he  was  naturally  too  just  and  too  generous  to 
abuse  the  favors  of  his  people.  During  the  whole  course 
of  his  reign  he  lived  in  peace  and  in  mutual  understand 
ing  with  his  Parliament. 

The  King  of  England  was  occupied  in  receiving  with 
magnificence  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  who  was  travelling, 
like  a  knight-errant,  from  kingdom  to  kingdom,  endeavoring 
to  effect  the  cessation  of  the  schism  which  was  desolating 
the  Church,  by  causing  the  anti-popes  to  abdicate,  to  restore 
to  Christianity  a  universally  recognized  chief,  when,  in  the 
month  of  August,  1416,  came  the  news  that  Harfleur  was 
closely  pressed  by  a  body  of  French  troops.  The  king  was 
ready  to  embark  ;  but  Sigismund  dissuaded  him,  under  the 
pretext  that  this  enterprise  was  not  worthy  of  so  great  a 
prince,  and  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford  was  intrusted  the  res 
cue  of  the  garrison  of  Harfleur.  He  found  a  considerable 
fleet,  reinforced  by  some  Genoese  and  Spaniards,  which 
awaited  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Seine  ;  and  on  the  15th 
of  August  he  was  attacked  by  the  French,  who  were  soon 
defeated  ;  but  the  Genoese  caracks  rose  so  high  above  the 
water  that  the  English  sailors  were  compelled  to  climb  up 
like  cats  to  board  them :  they  succeeded,  however ;  for  '*  at 
sea,"  says  the  old  chronicler,  "  neither  those  who  attack, 
nor  those  who  defend,  have  any  place  of  refuge  or  means 
of  escape,  and  the  combat  is  therefore  more  desperate."  The 

VOL.  i.  50 


394  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

French  fleet  was  destroyed,  and  the  land  forces  were  retreat 
ing  in  disorder ;  but  the  sea  was  covered  with  dead  bodies, 
which  came  floating  around  the  vessels,  and  the  sight  was 
still  lugubrious  when  the  Duke  of  Bedford  returned  to  Eng 
land,  leaving  Harfleur  revictualled  and  in  a  good  state  of 
defence. 

The  Emperor  Sigismund  had  accompanied  his  royal  host 
to  a  conference,  at  Calais,  whither  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
who  began  to  incline  towards  the  English,  had  repaired. 
The  Count  of  Armagnac  was  all-powerful  in  Paris,  and  King 
Henry  was  preparing  a  large  army  to  attempt  a  fresh  invasion 
of  France. 

The  Dauphin  Louis  was  dead,  poisoned,  it  was  said,  by 
the  Armagnacs,  who  dreaded  the  influence  of  his  father-in- 
law,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  over  him.  Prince  John,  who 
had  become  Dauphin,  had  been  accompanied  to  Compi£gne 
by  his  brother-in-law,  the  Count  of  Hainault.  He  was  quite 
a  Burgundian,  and  did  not  long  survive  his  elevation.  "  At 
the  beginning  of  1417,"  wrote  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  "  our 
much  dreaded  lord  and  nephew  was  stricken  one  evening  with 
so  severe  an  illness  that  he  died  immediately ;  his  lips,  tongue, 
and  face  all  swollen,  which  was  a  piteous  sight,  for  like  this 
are  persons  who  are  poisoned."  The  new  Dauphin,  Charles, 
was  but  sixteen  years  of  age  ;  he  belonged  to  the  Armagnacs, 
who  had  caused  Queen  Isabel  to  be  seized  in  the  castle  of 
Vincennes,  and  had  imprisoned  her  at  Tours.  She  had  there 
upon  entered  into  relations  with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  whose 
partisans  had  been  driven  in  a  mass  from  Paris.  The  Eng 
lish  disembarked  at  the  same  time  at  Touques,  in  Normandy. 

From  this  period,  and  for  twenty  years,  the  history  of 
England  takes  place  in  France.  Absorbed  at  first  in  their 
conquests,  then  in  the  attempt  to  preserve  them,  the  English 
princes  asked  nothing  of  their  native  country  but  men  and 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY  V.  395 

money.  The  towns  of  Normandy  fell  one  after  another  into 
the  power  of  King  Henry.  Caen  was  taken  by  storm  ;  Lisieux, 
Bayeux,  Laigle,  had  been  abandoned  by  the  population,  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  Brittany.  Nothing  arrested  his  triumphal 
march.  In  vain  did  the  French  deputies  endeavor  to  nego 
tiate  ;  Henry  demanded  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Catherine, 
and  only  consented  to  leave  the  royal  title  to  Charles  VI. 
on  condition  of  governing  during  his  lifetime  as  regent,  and 
having  possession  of  the  crown  after  his  death.  The  winter 
had  arrived,  and  the  Scots  had  attempted  an  incursion  into 
the  Northern  counties  ;  but  Bedford  had  repulsed  them.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  spring  (1418),  King  Henry  resumed  his 
military  operations.  Large  reinforcements  had  arrived  from 
England ;  Cherbourg,  Doinfront,  Louviers,  Pont-de-1'Arche, 
besieged  by  large  detachments,  surrendered  almost  at  the 
same  time.  The  whole  of  Lower  Normandy  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  conqueror,  who  established  his  government  there.  The 
salt  tax  was  abolished,  and  the  chancellor  of  the  duchy  was 
directed  to  govern  with  strict  justice.  On  the  30th  of  July, 
the  King  of  England  laid  siege  to  Rouen. 

Meanwhile  Paris  was  more  than  ever  a  prey  to  the  flames 
and  to  bloodshed.  The  Duke  of  Burgundy  had  released 
Queen  Isabel,  who  had  declared  herself  regent  of  the  king 
dom,  without  concerning  herself  about  the  rights  of  her  son. 
She  was  advancing  against  Paris,  which  trembled  under  the 
Count  of  Arrnagnac.  "  In  those  days  it  was  sufficient  in 
Paris  to  say  that  a  man  was  a  Burgundian  for  him  to  be 
dead,"  say  the  chronicles.  The  population  began  to  weary 
of  this  sanguinary  yoke.  In  the  night  of  the  23d  of  May, 
1418,  one  of  the  gates  of  the  city  was  secretly  opened  to 
a  small  body  of  Burgundians,  by  Perrinet  Leclerc,  the  son 
of  a  civil  guard.  The  Sire  of  Isle-Adam,  who  commanded 
the  detachment,  hastened  to  the  HOtel  St.  Pol ;  the  Dauphin 


396  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

had  already  been  dragged  as  far  as  the  Bastille  by  Tanneguy- 
Duchatel,  a  Breton  knight  and  an  ardent  Armagnac.  The 
Constable  had  concealed  himself ;  the  poor  king,  awakened 
with  a  start,  recognized  Isle- Adam.  "  How  is  my  cousin 
of  Burgundy  ? "  he  said  courteously.  "It  is  a  very  long 
time  since  I  have  seen  him."  The  populace  of  Paris  had 
risen  and  were  rushing  upon  the  Armagnacs ;  the  king  was 
placed  on  horseback  and  conducted  through  the  streets  of 
Paris.  The  Constable  had  been  discovered,  and  thrown  into 
prison  with  his  partisans ;  but  on  the  12th  of  June  a  cry 
was  raised  that  the  enemy  were  at  the  gates  :  the  people  ran 
to  the  prisons,  the  captives  were  dragged  into  the  yards,  and 
immediately  slaughtered,  notwithstanding  some  efforts  of  the 
Burgundian  knights.  Nearly  five  thousand  persons  perished  in 
this  massacre,  which  lasted  several  days.  Tanneguy-Duchatel 
had  conducted  the  Dauphin  to  Bourges,  when  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy  and  the  queen  entered  Paris  in  triumph.  The 
two  parties  endeavored  to  negotiate  with  King  Henry,  who 
listened  to  them  and  rejected  their  proposals  one  by  one  :  he 
had  come  to  persuade  himself  that  he  was  the  avenger  sent 
by  God.  "  He  has  conducted  me  hither  by  the  hand  to 
punish  the  sins  of  the  land  and  to  reign  as  a  true  king," 
he  replied  to  the  solicitations  of  the  Papal  Legate  in  favor 
of  peace.  "  There  is  neither  law  nor  sovereign  in  France, 
none  thinks  of  resisting  me  ;  I  will  maintain  my  just  rights 
and  will  place  the  crown  upon  my  head.  It  is  the  will  of 
God." 

Meanwhile  the  siege  of  Rouen  still  continued.  From  every 
captured  town  and  every  abandoned  castle,  the  best  com 
batants  had  taken  refuge  in  the  capital  of  Normandy.  The 
citizens  thereof  had  always  been  valiant  and  passionately 
attached  to  independence.  Henry  in  vain  repeated  to  them 
that  he  was  of  Norman  race,  a  descendant  of  Rollo  and 


ENTRY   OF   THE   BURGUNDIANS   INTO   PARIS 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY  V.  397 

William  the  Conqueror ;  the  Rouennais  kept  their  gates 
closed,  fighting  valiantly  upon  the  ramparts,  and  making 
frequent  sorties.  Hunger,  however,  began  to  make  itself 
felt ;  an  old  priest  left  the  city  secretly  and  repaired  to  Paris 
to  ask  for  assistance.  He  addressed  himself  to  Maitre  Pavilly, 
the  greatest  doctor  and  preacher  of  the  Sorbonne,  beseeching 
him  to  preach  a  sermon  in  favor  of  the  unfortunate  besieged 
of  Rouen.  The  eloquence  of  Maitre  Pavilly  moved  all  his 
auditors  to  tears.  "I  have  come  to  raise  the  hue  and  cry," 
said  the  old  priest.  Assistance  was  promised  to  him,  but 
days  elapsed  and  nobody  came.  The  dogs  and  cats  were 
eaten  ;  the  besieged  caused  a  capitulation  to  be  proposed  to 
King  Henry.  "  In  your  present  state,"  replied  the  con 
queror,  "I  intend  to  see  you  at  my  mercy."  When  Messire 
Le  Bouteiller,  the  governor  of  the  city,  received  this  answer, 
he  no  longer  took  any  counsel  but  that  of  despair.  "  Let 
us  set  fire  to  the  houses,"  he  said,  "  and  arm  ourselves  as 
well  as  we  are  able,  with  the  women  and  children  in  our 
midst ;  and  so  we  will  make  a  breach  in  the  wall  which  is 
ruined,  and  will  throw  ourselves  upon  the  camp  of  the 
English,  to  go  where  we  can."  The  rumor  of  this  resolve 
reached  the  ears  of  King  Henry.  He  was  harsh,  and  urged 
on  his  projects  without  concerning  himself  much  about  human 
sufferings ;  but  he  was  unwilling  to  see  Rouen  reduced  to 
ashes ;  he  promised  to  the  men-at-arms  their  life  and  liberty, 
on  condition  of  not  fighting  against  him  for  one  year.  The 
citizens  retained  their  property  and  their  liberties,  by  paying 
a  fine  of  three  hundred  thousand  crowns.  The  king  entered 
Rouen  on  the  16th  of  January,  1419,  amid  the  dead  bodies 
with  which  the  streets  were  strewn  :  fifty  thousand  persons, 
it  was  said,  had  perished  in  the  city  during  the  siege. 

The  consternation  was  great  in  France  when  it  was  learned 
that  Rouen  had  succumbed.     The  Duke  of  Burgundy  quitted 


398  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

Paris  with  the  king  and  queen,  and  negotiations  were  again 
entered  into  with  the  King  of  England.  The  conditions 
offered  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  were  so  advantageous  that 
Henry  consented  to  negotiate  in  person.  The  plain  of  the 
environs  of  Meulan  was  chosen  for  the  interview ;  the  court 
of  France  was  at  Pontoise,  and  the  King  of  England  had 
established  himself  at  Mantes.  On  the  30th  of  May,  two 
magnificent  retinues  appeared  in  the  field,  around  whom  a 
crowd  of  people  thronged ;  silken  tents  had  been  erected. 
For  the  first  time  Henry  saw  that  Princess  Catherine  with 
whom  he  had  been  smitten  through  a  portrait,  and  whom 
he  had  chosen  for  the  lady  of  his  thoughts.  Tall,  slim,  fair, 
with  black  eyes,  the  beauty  of  the  princess  made  a  lively 
impression  upon  her  knight,  but  without  disturbing  for  a 
moment  the  policy  of  the  king.  Interviews  succeeded  each 
other,  but  Henry  abated  nothing  of  his  pretensions.  "  Good 
cousin  of  Burgundy,"  said  he,  "  I  will  have  the  daughter 
of  your  king  for  my  wife,  and  with  her  all  that  I  have 
demanded."  But  when  the  King  of  England  presented  him 
self  for  the  eighth  conference,  the  French  tents  were  de 
serted.  A  treaty  had  been  concluded  between  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy  and  the  Dauphin,  who  had  embraced  upon  the 
road  between  Melun  and  Corbeil ;  the  two  parties  were 
for  the  moment  reunited  against  the  English.  King  Henry, 
indignant  at  this  treachery,  and  swearing  to  avenge  himself 
unaided,  advanced  as  far  as  Pontoise,  which  was  taken  on 
the  27th  of  July.  Isle-Adam,  who  defended  the  town,  was 
compelled  to  fly,  leaving  behind  him  the  treasure  which  he 
had  amassed  in  Paris  by  hanging  the  Armagnacs. 

The  Duke  of  Burgundy  was  at  Saint-Denis ;  but  he  made 
no  effort  to  defend  Pontoise.  Paris  remained  undefended ; 
nobody  thought  any  longer  of  taking  possession  of  that 
unhappy  city,  the  scene  of  so  many  horrors  and  crimes. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY   V.  399 

There  was  uneasiness  around  the  King  of  England ;  the 
negotiations  which  were  on  foot  between  the  court  of  France 
and  the  Regent  of  Scotland  were  known  ;  the  King  of  Cas 
tile  had  armed  a  large  fleet  which  ravaged  the  coasts  of  Gui- 
enne.  Henry  V.  alone  had  not  lost  confidence  :  he  counted 
upon  the  justice  of  God  as  well  as  upon  the  internal  treachery 
of  his  adversaries ;  the  event  proved  that  he  had  not  been 
mistaken.  Since  his  reconciliation  with  the  Dauphin,  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  strongly  urged  the  latter  to  repair  to 
Troyes,  where  were  the  king  and  queen  ;  the  young  prince, 
or  rather  his  councillors,  insisted  upon  a  preliminary  inter 
view  at  Montereau.  The  duke  hesitated ;  he  had  received 
several  warnings  of  the  evil  designs  of  Tanneguy-Duchatel. 
But  the  influence  of  a  woman,  the  Dame  de  Giac,  gained  over 
by  the  Armagnacs,  decided  him  to  risk  all,  and  he  started 
for  Montereau.  Tanneguy-Duchatel  came  forward  to  meet 
him ;  the  servants  of  the  duke  still  insisted  to  make  him 
retreat.  "  No,"  said  he  ;  "if  I  die,  it  will  be  as  a  martyr, 
and  the  councillors  of  my  lord  the  Dauphin  are  good 
knights."  Then,  as  Duchatel  entered,  "  This  is  what  I  rely 
upon,"  he  said,  resting  his  hand  upon  his  shoulder ;  "  Messire 
Tanneguy  answers  for  my  safety.''  The  Armagnac  reiterated 
protestations,  while  leading  the  duke  towards  the  pavilion 
which  had  been  prepared  upon  the  bridge.  Barriers  closed 
it  upon  both  sides ;  they  were  carefully  thrown  down  as  soon 
as  the  duke  had  entered.  He  uncovered  his  head  and  placed 
one  knee  upon  the  ground  before  the  Dauphin,  who  leaned 
against  the  balustrade  in  the  centre  of  the  pavilion.  The 
young  prince  scarcely  answered,  muttering  some  reproaches. 
At  the  same  moment,  upon  a  movement  of  John  the  Fear 
less,  which  caused  his  sword  to  clatter,  Tanneguy  cried,  "A 
sword  in  my  lord's  presence ! "  and  struck  the  duke  a  blow 
on  the  head  with  his  battle-axe.  The  Sire  de  Navailles  raised 


400  POPULAR  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

his  arm  to  defend  his  master ;  but  the  Viscount  of  Narbonne 
sprang  upon  him.  The  duke  had  been  thrown  down  without 
having  been  able  to  draw  his  sword ;  two  noblemen  raised 
his  coat  of  mail  and  plunged  their  daggers  in  his  breast ; 
the  Burgundians  of  the  retinue  were  made  prisoners ;  two 
of  them  were  seriously  wounded.  The  troops  of  the  Dauphin 
had  scattered  the  escort ;  the  young  prince  had  retired ;  John 
the  Fearless  remained  lifeless  upon  the  bridge,  divested  of 
his  jewels  and  his  rich  habiliments.  This  bold  and  cunning 
heart,  this  egotistical  ambition  which  nothing  arrested,  this 
magnificent  life  of  pleasures  and  politics,  all  had  been  ended 
by  a  crime,  and  the  public  indignation  enumerated  the  vir 
tues  of  the  duke  without  recalling  his  vices  ;  the  death  of 
John  the  Fearless  opened  a  wide  entrance  for  the  English 
in  France. 

Philip-,  Count  of  Charolais,  now  Duke  of  Burgundy,  was  at 
Ghent  when  he  learned  of  the  assassination  of  his  father. 
"Michelle,"  he  said,  turning  towards  his  wife,  the  daughter 
of  Charles  VI.,  "your  brother  has  killed  my  father."  Amid 
deputations  which  arrived  from  all  parts  to  deplore  the  crime, 
and  to  throw  the  responsibility  of  it  upon  the  Dauphin,  the 
first  care  of  the  new  duke  was  to  enter  into  negotiations 
with  the  King  of  England. 

Anger  and  vengeance  were  about  to  give  to  Henry  all  that 
his  victories  had  not  yet  been  able  to  wrest  from  the  weak 
ness  of  France.  The  proposals  of  the  Dauphin  had  been 
rejected ;  but  when  the  young  Duke  of  Burgundy  was  in 
trusted  to  negotiate  by  Queen  Isabel,  the  king  entered  into 
parleys  ;  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Catherine  was  promised 
to  him,  with  the  regency  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  crown  at 
the  death  of  Charles  VI.  He  consented,  in  his  turn,  to  re 
nounce  the  title  of  King  of  France  during  the  lifetime  of  King 
Charles,  to  govern  his  new  kingdom  by  the  advice  of  a  French 


CHAP.XIU.]  HENRY   V.  401 

council,  to  respect  the  liberties  of  the  parliaments  and  towns, 
and  to  reannex  Normandy  to  the  crown  of  France  on  his 
accession  to  the  throne.  A  private  treaty  assured  certain 
favors  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Neither  of  these  documents 
contained  the  clause  which  had  led  to  their  conclusion  ;  but 
it  was  understood  that  the  Dauphin  should  be  pursued  to  the 
death,  and  driven  from  his  inheritance  by  the  English  arms. 

The  Duke  of  Burgundy  had  assured  himself  of  his  revenge ; 
he  returned  to  Troyes ;  all  the  constituent  bodies  had  already 
reassembled  at  Paris,  —  the  Parliament,  the  Chamber  of  Ac 
counts,  the  University,  —  and  all  had  approved  of  the  treaty 
with  the  English.  The  great  qualities  of  King  Henry  were 
enumerated ;  prudent  and  wise,  loving  peace  and  justice,  main 
taining  a  strict  discipline  among  warriors,  protecting  the  poor 
people,  resigned  to  the  will  of  God,  praising  Him  in  good  for 
tune  and  accepting  bad  fortune  without  anger.  It  was  added 
that  he  was  of  noble  bearing  and  of  an  agreeable  countenance. 
None  objected  ;  people  were  weary  of  the  civil  wars ;  misery 
had  exhausted  their  hearts,  and  benumbed  their  courage ;  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  was  all-powerful.  A  few  noblemen  alone 
dared  to  complain  ;  the  Duke  Philip  had  great  difficulty  in 
making  John  of  Luxembourg  and  the  Bishop  of  The*rouenne, 
his  brother,  to  swear  peace.  "You  wish  it,"  they  said,  "we 
will  therefore  take  the  oath,  and  also  will  we  keep  it  until 
death."  Others  formally  refused,  and,  in  the  duchy  of  Bur 
gundy,  all  the  towns  at  first  resisted  the  oath  of  fidelity 
required  by  the  King  of  England.  "Those  who  looked  dis 
pleased,"  says  Juvenal  des  Ursins,  "  were  treated  as  Armagnacs, 
but  they  were  only  good  and  loyal  Frenchmen."  The  treaty 
of  Troyes  was  the  disgrace  of  France. 

King  Henry  arrived  at  the  court  on  the  20th  of  May,  fol 
lowed  by  the  flower  of  his  army,  upon  which  he  had  imposed 
a  severe  discipline  ;  in  traversing  the  country,  he  had  every- 

VOL.  I.  51 


402  POPULAR  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

where  required  the  soldiers  to  put  water  in  their  wine.  The 
Princess  Catherine  was  awaiting  her  chevalier,  who  was  affi 
anced  to  her  with  great  ceremony,  and  on  the  morrow  the 
treaty  was  signed.  The  King  of  England,  regent  of  France, 
had  received  the  oaths  of  his  new  subjects,  when  his  marriage 
was  celebrated  on  the  2d  of  June,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Sens, 
amid  the  most  brilliant  ceremonies.  The  young  knights  and 
gallants  hoped  for  a  joust  and  some  passages  of  arms  on  the 
occasion  of  this  great  union  ;  but  Henry  was  not  so  full  of 
love  as  to  forget  his  affairs.  "  I  beg  my  lord  the  king,"  he 
said,  "for  permission,  and  I  command  his  servants  as  well  as 
my  own  be  in  readiness  to-morrow  morning  to  proceed  to  lay 
siege  to  the  city  of  Sens,  where  are  the  enemies  of  the  king. 
There  each  of  us  will  be  able  to  joust,  tourney,  and  display 
his  prowess  and  courage,  for  there  is  no  finer  prowess  than 
to  mete  out  justice  to  the  wicked  in  order  that  the  poor  people 
may  live."  The  court  of  Queen  Isabel  was  not  accustomed 
to  this  serious  and  firm  language,  but  they  set  out  without 
complaining  for  Sens.  The  town  was  taken  at  the  end  of 
two  days ;  the  king  caused  the  archbishop  to  be  called,  and 
conducted  him  to  the  church.  "  You  have  given  me  a  bride, 
and  I  restore  yours  to  you,"  he  said  to  the  prelate. 

From  Sens  the  army  went  to  Montereau ;  the  Burgundians 
were  fighting  furiously,  eager  to  have  possession  of  the  spot  in 
which  the  body  of  their  duke  reposed.  The  garrison  had  been 
compelled  to  retire  within  the  castle,  where  the  Sire  de  Guitry 
defended  himself  yet  for  some  time.  Scarcely  had  Philip  of 
Burgundy  entered  the  town,  when  the  women  conducted  him 
to  the  church  wherein  his  father  had  been  hurriedly  interred. 
He  caused  the  tomb  to  be  opened ;  the  body  was  riddled  with 
wounds,  disfigured  by  the  blows  of  the  battle-axe  of  Tanneguy- 
Duchatel ;  all  wept  while  looking  at  him ;  the  body  was  trans 
ported  to  Dijon  with  the  greatest  honors,  and  deposited  in 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY  V.  403 

the  tomb  of  Philip  the  Bold.  The  bastard  De  Croy,  killed 
during  the  siege,  took,  in  the  church  of  Montereau,  the  place 
which  the  Duke  John  left  empty. 

The  army  had  repaired  to  Melun ;  but  the  town  was  de 
fended  by  the  Sire  de  Barbazan,  one  of  the  Dauphin's  most 
gallant  knights.  The  siege  was  likely  to  be  protracted ;  the 
court  came  and  established  itself  at  Corbeil.  Every  day  the 
besieged  made  sorties;  an  assault  had  been  attempted  with 
out  success  ;  mines  were  defeated  by  counter-mines.  The  Eng 
lish,  Burgundian,  and  French  knights  sometimes  took  pleasure 
in  breaking  lances  in  those  dark  galleries  ;  the  Sire  de  Barbazan 
there  had  the  honor  of  encountering  the  King  of  England 
without  knowing  him.  But  the  combats  of  the  men-at-arms 
were  more  serious,  and  the  knights  sometimes  took  part  in 
them.  "  You  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  fight  in  a  mine," 
said  De  Barbazan  to  the  young  Louis  des  Ursins,  who  was 
preparing  to  descend  there  ;  "  have  the  handle  of  your  battle- 
axe  cut  down  ;  the  passages  in  the  mines  are  often  narrow 
and  zigzagged  ;  short  sticks  are  necessary  for  fighting  hand 
to  hand." 

Meanwhile  the  people  suffered  cruelly  within  the  town,  and 
the  Dauphin  could  not  succor  it :  the  English  and  Burgundian 
forces  would  have  crushed  his  little  army.  The  besieged  still 
held  out.  King  Henry  had  in  vain  caused  Charles  VI.  to 
be  brought  to  the  camp ;  De  Barbazan  replied  that  he  would 
open  the  gates  to  him  willingly,  but  not  to  the  mortal  enemies 
of  France.  Already  the  English  and  the  Burgundians  began  to 
quarrel  among  themselves :  the  French  noblemen  complained 
of  the  small  court,  and  the  shabby  costume  of  their  king, 
while  the  King  of  England  had  a  gorgeous  establishment. 
Henry,  besides,  feeling  himself  surrounded  by  scarcely  sub 
jected  enemies,  and  little  accustomed  to  all  the  delicate  shades 
of  French  courtesy,  treated  the  barons  with  less  consideration 


404  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

than  they  were  wont  to  receive.  The  Marshal  of  Isle- 
Adam,  who  was  in  command  at  Joigny,  had  come  to  Sens 
for  some  matters  of  business.  "  Is  that  the  dress  of  a  mar 
shal  of  France  ? "  asked  King  Henry,  while  surveying  him 
from  head  to  foot.  "  Sire,"  replied  the  marshal,  "  I  had  this 
light  gray  robe  made  to  come  here  by  water."  "  What !  " 
cried  the  king,  "  do  you  look  a  prince  in  the  face  in  speak 
ing  to  him  ?  "  "  Sire,"  and  the  Burgundian  drew  himself 
up,  "  in  France  it  is  the  custom  when  one  man  speaks  to  an 
other,  of  whatever  rank,  or  whatever  power  he  may  be,  that 
he  pass  for  a  worthless  man  and  despicable  if  he  does  not  dare 
to  look  the  other  in  the  face."  "  It  is  not  our  fashion," 
muttered  Henry,  and  shortly  afterwards  Isle-Adam  was  de 
prived  of  his  command. 

Melun  had  at  length  been  reduced  to  capitulate,  on  the 
18th  of  November,  and  the  King  of  England  made  his  entry 
into  Paris.  That  city  was  a  prey  to  the  most  frightful  misery ; 
little  children  were  abandoned  and  died  of  hunger  and  of  cold 
in  the  streets  ;  wolves  entered  the  cemeteries  and  even  into 
the  streets,  to  devour  the  dead  bodies  which  none  took  the 
trouble  to  inter.  Notwithstanding  the  distress,  all  Paris  was 
holiday-making  for  the  arrival  of  the  two  kings.  The  poor 
Charles  VI.  rode  beside  his  son-in-law,  who  vied  with  him  in 
courtesy  at  the  doors  of  the  churches  when  the  relics  were 
presented  to  them  to  kiss.  The  Duke  of  Burgundy,  clad  in 
mourning,  as  well  as  all  his  household,  followed  the  King  of 
France  ;  the  Dukes  of  Clarence  and  Bedford  accompanied  their 
brother.  The  misery  was  redoubled  within  Paris  after  the 
magnificences  of  the  royal  reception.  Henry  established  him 
self  at  the  Louvre,  where  he  held  his  court  sumptuously,  the 
old.  king  had  re-entered  the  H6tel  St.  Paul,  and  few  people 
repaired  thither  to  him,  to  wish  him  a  happy  Christmas. 

The  Duke  of  Burgundy  had  formally  demanded  justice  for 


CHAP.  XIIL]  HENRY   V.  405 

the  death  of  his  father,  and  the  murderers  had  been  con 
demned  by  a  decree  of  Charles  VI.,  without  giving  the  names 
and  without  personally  accusing  the  Dauphin.  The  king  of 
England  was  in  need  of  money,  and  intrusting  the  command 
of  his  army  to  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  after  having  filled  the 
principal  offices  of  the  kingdom  with  men  who  were  de 
voted  to  him,  he  set  sail  for  England,  notwithstanding  the 
severity  of  the  weather.  He  landed  at  Dover,  in  the  middle 
of  January,  to  the  sound  of  the  acclamations  of  his  people. 
The  royal  retinue  resembled  a  triumph  when  it  entered  Lon 
don.  Catherine  was  crowned  at  Westminster,  "  with  such 
great  pomp,  and  feasting,  and  jollity,  that  since  the  time  of 
the  very  noble  and  very  warlike  King  Artus  was  not  seen  in 
the  city  of  London  a  similar  rejoicing  for  any  English  king," 
says  Monstrelet.  The  sovereigns  had  commenced  a  journey 
in  their  states,  when,  at  York,  the  king  learned  the  sad  news 
of  the  death  of  his  well-beloved  brother,  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
slain  in  the  combat  of  Bauge*.  He  was  ravaging  Anjou,  which 
still  recognized  the  authority  of  the  Dauphin.  The  Seigneur 
de  la  Fayette  had  raised  a  few  troops  to  resist  him,  and  a 
numerous  body  of  Scottish  auxiliaries  had  come  and  joined 
him  under  the  orders  of  the  Earl  of  Buchan.  Clarence  did 
not  know  with  what  enemies  he  had  to  deal ;  he  had  im 
prudently  advanced,  had  been  killed  by  Lord  Buchan,  and  a 
great  number  of  English  had  remained  upon  the  field.  The 
Dauphin  had  appointed  the  Earl  of  Buchan  Constable  of 
France. 

Negotiations  were  then  in  progress  for  the  release  of  King 
James  of  Scotland,  so  long  a  prisoner  at  the  court  of  England; 
King  Henry  caused  him  to  come,  and,  his  eyes  flashing  with 
rage,  "  Forbid  all  your  subjects  ever  to  lend  assistance  against 
me  to  the  Dauphin,"  he  said.  "  I  should  make  a  sorry  figure 
at  giving  orders,  being  a  prisoner,"  firmly  replied  James ;  "  but 


406  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

if  you  will  take  me  with  you  to  France,  I  shall  learn  the  art 
of  war  in  a  good  school,  and,  perhaps,  when  my  Scots  shall 
see  me  with  you,  they  will  not  fight  on  the  other  side." 
Henry  V.  had  an  affection  for  the  King  of  Scotland,  and 
granted  him  his  request ;  but  Archibald  Douglas  was  already 
preparing  to  proceed  to  France,  to  join  Lord  Buchan. 

Meanwhile  the  king  was  assembling  a  more  considerable 
army  than  all  those  which  he  had  ever  led  beyond  the  seas ; 
the  Parliament  had  liberally  voted  subsidies ;  and  on  the  10th 
of  June,  1421,  Henry  landed  at  Calais,  leaving  Queen  Cath 
erine  in  England.  The  King  of  Scotland  was  sent  to 
besiege  Dreux,  and  Henry  himself  laid  siege  to  Meaux,  which 
detained  him  for  several  months. '  The  town  was  commanded 
by  the  Bastard  De  Vaurus,  who  had  made  of  it  a  haunt  of 
crimes  and  of  pillage.  When  the  castle  was  at  length  surren 
dered,  in  the  month  of  May,  1422,  the  governor  was  hanged 
upon  the  great  oak  of  which  the  branches  had  so  often  borne 
the  corpses  of  his  victims.  Catherine,  accompanied  by  the 
Duke  of  Bedford,  had  rejoined  her  husband,  to  whom  she  had 
recently  presented  a  son.  The  Dauphin,  driven  back  by  de 
grees  by  the  English  arms,  had  finally  taken  refuge  in  Bourges ; 
but  the  Earl  of  Buchan  continued  to  keep  the  field;  he  had 
taken  La  Charit6,  and  was  besieging  Cosne.  The  Dauphin 
had  repaired  to  the  army,  and  the  King  of  England,  already  for 
a  long  time  enfeebled  by  fever,  was  preparing  to  attack  him 
with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  when  his  strength  completely 
failed  his  courage  ;  he  was  compelled  to  halt  at  Corbeil,  and 
the  Duke  of  Bedford  having  assumed  the  command  of  the 
army,  the  king  was  carried  back  in  a  litter  to  the  castle  of 
Vincennes.  The  queen  had  remained  at  Paris. 

The  hand  of  God  was  about  to  arrest  this  great  career ; 
at  thirty-four  years  of  age,  King  Henry  V.  was  dying;  the 
Duke  of  Bedford  was  arrested  in  a  march  during  which  he 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HENRY  V.  407 

had  encountered  no  enemies,  by  the  wish  of  his  brother,  who 
desired  to  say  farewell  to  him.  Every  worldly  gift  had  been 
lavished  upon  the  young  conqueror ;  the  master  of  two  king 
doms,  surrounded  by  the  esteem  and  affection  of  his  Eng 
lish  subjects,  recently  married  to  the  woman  of  his  choice, 
just  become  the  father  of  an  infant  son,  he  was  about  to 
leave  them ;  but  the  faith  and  resignation  of  a  Christian 
surmounted  in  the  soul  ready  to  take  flight,  the  frail  benefits 
of  the  earth.  Amid  his  grandeurs  and  his  conquests,  Henry 
had  led  a  pure  and  austere  life,  and  had  not  neglected  to 
serve  God.  He  dreamed  continually,  when  peace  should  be 
re-established,  of  proceeding  to  the  East,  to  deliver  the  Holy 
Sepulchre ;  this  vision  still  floated  around  his  death-bed. 
He  had  caused  his  faithful  servants  to  be  summoned.  "  Since 
it  is  the  will  of  God,  my  Creator,  thus  to  shorten  my  life,"  he 
said  to  them,  "  His  will  be  done  !  Console  my  sweet  Cathe 
rine  ;  she  will  be  the  most  disconsolate  creature  there  is  in  the 
world."  He  confided  the  education  of  his  son  to  the  Earl 
of  Warwick.  "  You  cannot  yet  love  him  for  his  own  sake  ; 
but  if  you  feel  that  you  owe  me  anything,  return  it  to  him." 
He  had  intrusted  to  John,  Duke  of  Bedford,  the  government 
of  France,  and  named  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  regent 
of  England.  "  Tell  Humphrey,  for  love  of  me,  to  beware  of 
quarrels,  and  never  to  allow  anything  in  the  world  to  separate 
him  from  John ;  do  not  separate  yourselves  from  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy."  He  had  summoned  his  physicians,  asking  them 
how  long  he  had  yet  to  live.  They  hesitated.  "  Speak," 
said  he  impatiently.  "  Sire,"  said  one  of  them,  "  think  of 
your  soul,  for  in  our  judgment  you  have  not  two  hours  to 
remain  on  earth." 

The  king  had  finished  his  last  instructions ;  he  had  said 
farewell  to  the  affairs  of  this  world  ;  his  confessor  and  the 
priests  of  his  chapel  surrounded  his  bed  ;  the  fifty-first  Psalm 


408  POPULAR   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.     [CHAP.  XIII. 

was  being  recited.  "  Build  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  !  "  chanted 
the  chaplain.  "Upon  the  faith  of  a  dying  king,"  murmured 
Henry,  "  if  it  had  pleased  the  Lord  God  to  prolong  my 
life,  I  intended  to  proceed  against  the  Infidels,  and  deliver 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  from  their  hands."  His  voice  died 
away ;  he  closed  his  eyes,  and,  amid  the  prayers  which  were 
repeated  around  him,  the  great  soul  of  King  Henry  V.  entered 
into  eternal  repose. 


END  OF  VOL.   I. 


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